Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy delivered a wonderful bowling performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), taking a hat-trick for Andhra in their match against Madhya Pradesh (MP). He picked up the wickets of Harsh Gawli, Harpreet Singh and RCB captain Rajat Patidar.
Watch his hat-trick here
Nitish was at his best against Madhya Pradesh as he returned with figures of 3/17 in three overs. Madhya Pradesh was chasing a target of 113 and in the third over Reddy dismantled MP’s top order by bowling Harsh Gawli, getting Harpreet Bhatia caught behind, and dismissing Patidar when the batter chopped a delivery onto his stumps. It was an excellent piece of new ball bowling. However, his effort wasn’t enough as Madhya Pradesh went on to win this match. Although he was the star with ball, Nitish Reddy struggled with the bat managing just 25 runs off 27 balls, including three boundaries. He struggled to rotate strike and got out eventually bundled out for 112 and despite losing three wickets early, Madhya Pradesh managed to chase down the target easily.
With this achievement Nitish Kumar Reddy became the fifth bowler from Andhra to claim a hat-trick in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The previous ones were D Sivakumar (vs Hyderabad, 2013/14), DB Prasanth Kumar (vs Karnataka, 2014/15), VC Stephen (vs Assam, 2015/16), and BSM Ayyappa (vs Kerala, 2017/18). Reddy’s hat-trick was also the first of this season’s tournament.
Nitish Reddy was not picked in the squad for South Africa T20I series and he will be keen to put up some more good performances in this SMAT to help his case of selection for the T20 World Cup that will be played next year. Andhra next face Punjab, while MP prepare to take on Jharkhand on December 14. This win gives MP crucial four points.
