Yuzvendra Chahal's hat-trick against Kolkata Knight Riders handed Rajasthan Royals a seven-run win in IPL 2022. Meanwhile, Lasith Malinga was all-praise for him.
It was an entertaining thriller between former champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 30 of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). Played at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, RR registered a narrow seven-run win, thanks to leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's hat-trick. As a result, RR fast-bowling coach Lasith Malinga praised him.
KKR was going smooth, with Shreyas Iyer (85) looking dangerous. However, in the 17th over, Chahal struck four times and even claimed a hat-trick to diminish KKR's chances. His hat-trick victims happened to be Iyer, Shivam Mavi (0) and Pat Cummins (0). Meanwhile, Malinga feels that Chahal proved why leggies as match-winners.
"Chahal has more international experience. He is the most experienced leg-spinner in the country and this tournament. He showed how to control the skill. That's more important for him to prove he is good enough to play any competitive cricket. Leg-spinners have more wicket-taking options, and he showed today how he could get wickets and change the game in a single over. I think he showed all the leg-spinners that they are the match-winning bowlers in this competition," Malinga said during the post-match press conference.
In the meantime, Chahal said after the win, “I had to take wickets in this match to change the result. I worked on my bowling. I spoke to the coaches and the skipper. I was thinking of a googly, but I didn’t want to take a chance. I would have been happy with a dot ball on my hat-trick ball. My googly was coming out well and sent it down to Venkatesh Iyer."
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As for the records Chahal scripted:
- He became the second Indian leggie to bag a fifer in an IPL match after Anil Kumble and the first to do the same against KKR.
- He has claimed the most wickets in seven straight IPL innings (19).
- He also has the most expensive fifer in IPL history.