
Courtesy: BCCI
On Thursday, January 30, Indian cricketer Shardul Thakur took a hat-trick for Mumbai during their Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash against Meghalaya at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) Ground in Mumbai. In a must-win match for Mumbai, to keep their hopes alive for a quarter-final spot from Elite Group A, the 33-year-old got the better of three of the Meghalaya batters without troubling the scorers, to complete a hat-trick.
For the unversed, the captain of Mumbai, Ajinkya Rahane, won the toss and decided to field first in helpful conditions for the pacers on the first morning of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash. It took just four deliveries in the first over for Shardul Thakur dismissed Meghalaya opener Nishanta Chakraborty for no score before he took the wickets of Balachander Anriudh, Sumit Kumar, Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva in three consecutive balls.
Watch the video here:
Meghalaya were 2/6 in 3.1 overs in their first innings against Mumbai
Meghalaya had a colossal batting collapse in the early stages of their first innings, finding themselves at 2/6 in 3.1 overs after Shardul Thakur picked up four wickets, while Mohit Avasthi found himself on a hat-trick, which was denied on the next ball by captain Akash Choudhary. Ultimately, some resistance from the lower order of Meghalaya, including No. 10 Himan Phukan scoring 28 runs in just 24 balls with three fours and two maximums, helped them reach 86-run total in 24.3 overs.
In response, Mumbai lost the wicket of their opening batter Ayush Mhatre in the first over for just five runs in four deliveries, to find themselves 6/1 in 0.5 overs, as of this writing. The defending Ranji Trophy champions are missing the services of Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer, who made themselves unavailable for the ongoing match, to prepare for the upcoming three-match ODI series at home against England, starting on February 6 before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Moreover, Mumbai needs to defeat Meghalaya with a bonus point in their ongoing Ranji Trophy contest, to give themselves the best chance to make the quarter-final round.