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Noman achieved the feat on Saturday during the West Indies first innings of the ongoing second Test against Pakistan at Multan Cricket Stadium.
Noman Ali becomes first Pakistani spinner to take hat-trick in Test cricket. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Noman Ali entered his name in history books on Saturday, January 25, by becoming the first Pakistani spinner to take a hat trick in Test cricket. The 38-year-old left-arm spinner from Sanghar achieved the feat during Day 1’s play of the ongoing second Test between Pakistan and West Indies at Multan Cricket Stadium. Noman opened his wicket account by trapping West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite in front of the wickets on the second ball of the 10th over, and then on the first three balls of the 12th over, he removed Justin Greaves, Tevin Imlach, and Kevin Sinclair to achieve the big feat.
While Greaves was caught by Babar Azam in the second slip for 1 run from three balls, wicketkeeper-batter Imlach was out lbw for a golden duck, and Babar completed Sinclair’s catch on the first ball he faced.
Wasim Akram was the first Pakistani bowler to take a hat trick in Test cricket. He achieved the feat in the first innings of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Asian Test Championship match played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore from March 4-8 in 1999. In the next match, which was played in Dhaka from March 12-15, 1999, he once again dismissed three Sri Lankan batters in three balls.
All-rounder Abdul Razzaq joined Akram in the elite list during Pakistan’s Test match played against Sri Lanka at Galle in June 2000. Pacer Mohammad Sami became the third Pakistani cricketer to take a Test hat trick in March 2002 during the Asian Test Championship final played against Sri Lanka in Lahore.
The last Pakistani bowler to take a hat trick in Test cricket before Noman was fast bowler Naseem Shah. Naseem achieved the feat during the Pakistan-Bangladesh Test match played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in February 2020.
Noman is the second Pakistani and fifth bowler overall to take a hat trick in the World Test Championship (WTC). Jasprit Bumrah of India was the first bowler to dismiss three batters in three balls of a WTC match. He achieved the feat against the West Indies in August-September 2019. Naseem joined him on the elite list in February 2020, South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj in June 2021, and England’s Gus Atkinson in December 2024.