Pat Cummins secured his second hat-trick within three days during Australia's Super Eight match against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup 2024, becoming the fifth bowler in men’s T20I history to achieve this feat twice. This time, he remembered the milestone as he accomplished it.
Having already taken a hat-trick against Bangladesh in Antigua, Cummins repeated the feat in his last two overs in St Vincent. In the final ball of the 18th over, he dismissed Rashid Khan with a catch at long on. He continued his streak by removing Karim Janat with the first ball of the 20th over in a similar fashion, and then saw Gulbadin Naib caught at deep midwicket as Afghanistan desperately sought to add to their total.
Cummins reflected on his back-to-back hat-tricks during the innings break, telling the broadcaster that he was aware of being on a hat-trick this time, unlike his previous forgetfulness against Bangladesh. He expressed amazement at achieving two consecutive hat-tricks after playing over 100 games for Australia.
He came close to securing a fourth wicket in four balls—a rare achievement seen only once before by Ireland’s Curtis Campher during the 2021 T20 World Cup—when Nangeyalia Kharote swung a shot towards deep square leg, but David Warner missed the catch.
Cummins joins the ranks of Lasith Malinga, Tim Southee, Serbia’s Mark Pavlovic, and Malta’s Waseem Abbas as bowlers with two T20I hat-tricks. Interestingly, Pavlovic recorded his hat-tricks on consecutive days in 2023, although those came across three matches.
Cummins also became the second player to secure a hat-trick in successive international matches, following Wasim Akram, who accomplished this in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka in March 1999. Additionally, Jimmy Matthews took two hat-tricks in a single Test match against South Africa in 1912, both occurring on the same day.
This extraordinary achievement cements Cummins’ place among the elite bowlers in T20 international cricket and highlights his exceptional skill and consistency.