IPL 2016: Axar Patel Takes First Hat-Trick Of the Tournament

Axar Patel joined an elite club when he picked up the first hat-trick of the 2016 Indian Premier League during Kings XI Punjab's match against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot on Sunday.

Coming in to bowl in the fourth over, Axar conceded six runs but he came into his own in his second over, which was the sixth of the innings.

He started off by sending back Dwayne Smith with the third ball as the batsman mistimed a lofted shot to long off. After a single on the fourth ball, he bowled Dinesh Karthik as he inside-edged a flatter delivery on to the stumps. On the last ball, he got his third wicket of the over when Dwayne Bravo dragged a quicker ball on to leg stump to leave Gujarat Lions reeling.

In the 11th over, Axar struck first ball as Jadeja edged to keeper Wriddhiman Saha to complete the hat-trick. He finished with figures of 4-0-21-4, his best figures in Twenty20 cricket.

This is the third time that a Kings XI Punjab bowler has taken a hat-trick in the IPL. Yuvraj Singh achieved the feat twice in the 2009 edition held in South Africa. Amit Mishra picked up a hat-trick in the 2011 edition against Deccan Chargers while Parwinder Awana achieved the feat against Chennai Super Kings in Hyderabad in the 2015 edition.

This is also the 14th hat-trick ever in all editions of the IPL. Interestingly, on May 1, Yuvraj had taken the first hat-trick for Kings XI Punjab in the 2009 edition. Now, seven years later, Axar has taken it against Gujarat in his home-town.