On this day: Saqlain Mushtaq claims second ODI hat-trick

Saqlain Mushtaq (Twitter)

New Delhi, June 11: On June 11, 1999, Pakistan spin great Saqlain Mushtaq became the second player after his illustrious team mate Wasim Akram to claim two hat-tricks in ODI cricket.

Saqlain achieved the milestone during match against Zimbabwe in the 1999 World Cup. He wiped out the tail with the successive scalps, dismissing Henry Olonga, Adam Huckle and Pommie Mbangwa to secure a 148-run win for Pakistan.

Pakistan had set a target of 272 largely thanks to a century from opener Saeed Anwar. Zimbabwe were hardly ever in the chase. Only three Zimbabwe batsman crossed over into double digits as the Pakistan bowling attack featuring a young Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq, Wasim and Saqlain ran havoc.

Both Olonga and Huckle were stumped by Moin Khan while Mbangwa was LBW.

Credited with inventing the doosra, Saqlain is regarded as one of the most important bowlers in a generation that had some of the greatest exponents of the art of spin bowling such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble.

In latter years, Sri Lankan pair Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga and India's Kuldeep Yadav would match Waqar and Saqlain's tally of two ODI hat-tricks. Malinga would go on to surpass all of them and become the only bowler to have three hat-tricks in ODI cricket.

Saqlain represented Pakistan in 49 Tests and 169 ODIs in which he scalped 208 and 288 wickets respectively.