Pakistan’s spinner Noman Ali gave a stellar performance on the first day of the second and last match of the two-Test series between Pakistan and West Indies being played on the grounds of Multan. The 38-year-old bowler took six wickets, which also included a historic hat-trick. This is the first hat-trick taken by a spinner in Pakistan’s Test history.
Noman Ali’s historic hat-trick
Noman Ali completed his hat-trick by dismissing Justin Greaves (1), Tevin Imlach (0) and Kevin Sinclair (0) in three consecutive balls in the 11th over of the West Indies innings. This performance is a milestone in Pakistan’s Test cricket. He shook West Indies badly by sending the number six, seven and eight batsmen back to the pavilion on the first three balls of the over.
Noman’s special entry with a hat-trick
Noman Ali has now joined the five bowlers of Pakistan who have taken a hat-trick in Test cricket.
- Wasim Akram (2 times)
- Abdul Razzaq
- mohammad sami
- Naseem Shah
- Noman Ali
Interestingly, Wasim Akram, Abdul Razzaq and Mohammed Sami had registered their hat-tricks against Sri Lanka, while Naseem Shah did the same against Bangladesh in 2020.
Noman’s age (38 years and 110 days) makes him the second oldest player to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Ahead of him is Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath, who achieved this feat against Australia in 2016 at the age of 38 years and 139 days.
West Indies collapse in the first session itself
West Indies won the toss and chose to bat, but their decision proved to be completely wrong.
- Captain Kraigg Brathwaite (9) was out LBW by Noman in the second over itself.
- Mikail Lewis (4), Amir Jangu and Alick Athanaj could not even open the account.
- West Indies batsmen kept returning to the pavilion cheaply one after the other.
Kaveem Hodge (21) tried a little, but failed to play a big innings.
The team lost 8 wickets in 54 runs. However, Gudakesh Moti (55), Kemar Roach (25) and Jomel Warrican (36 not out) struggled in the lower order and took the team’s score to 163 runs.
Noman’s tremendous performance
Noman Ali took 6 wickets for just 41 runs in 15.1 overs. His performance strengthens Pakistan’s chances of victory.
Pakistan’s test hat-trick hero
List of bowlers who have taken hat-tricks in test matches for Pakistan:
- Wasim Akram vs Sri Lanka (1999, 2 times)
- Abdul Razzaq vs Sri Lanka (2000)
- Mohammed Sami vs Sri Lanka (2002)
- Naseem Shah vs Bangladesh (2020)
- Noman Ali vs West Indies (2025)
