Credits: Instagram
It is often said that age is not a boundary to achieve greatness. The biggest example in sport of cricket for the same has been none other than Imran Tahir, who has continued to defied all kinds of barriers to produce magic on the field over the years. The 42-year-old has now etched his name in history books once again after he registered the first-ever hattrick in the first season of new-format tournament - The Hundred.
Tahir achieved the feat during match no. 23 between Welsh Fire and Birmingham Phoenix. The first-innings itself saw a lot of records being broken as the Phoenix went on to post a huge total of 184/5 in 100 balls. Will Smeed (65* off 38) and Moeen Ali (59 off 38) were the star performers with the bat. Welsh Fire needed to come up with something special to complete a record-chase.
Tahir show in Birmingham
After Adam Milne dismissed Tom Banton on the 5th delivery, Welsh Fire were on the backfoot right from the beginning. When the batting side got some momentum, Imran Tahir weaved his magic as he dismissed Glenn Phillips and Leus du Plooy on the 36th and 40th delivery of the innings respectively. Although the match was already done and dusted with the Fire reeling at 91/7, Tahir wanted to add the icing on the cake.
Qais Ahmad got out off the leg-spin of Tahir as he skied the ball in the air that went straight into the hands of Will Smeed. After that, the 43-year-old trapped Matt Milnes in front of the wicket as he tried to sweep the ball. Tahir then bamboozled David Payne with his trademark googly to clean up his stumps as he completed the first hattrick of the tournament.
Watch the video here:
Tahir takes 5-wicket haul
In just a matter of three balls, Tahir once again showed everyone that age is just a number as class remains permanent. Tahir was adjudged 'man of the match' for his brilliant spell of bowling where he registered 10 dot balls in 19 deliveries, taking an exceptional five-wicket haul. The veteran ended the match with figures of 19-10-25-5 and produced his iconic running celebration, which will be remembered as one of the most memorable moments of the tournament.