South African spinner Keshav Maharaj hit a hat-trick against the West Indies on Monday, leading his team to a 158-run victory in the second Test in Saint Lucia.
With this extraordinary achievement, Maharaj became only the second South African bowler to capture a hat-trick in Test cricket, and the first Proteas cricketer in more than 60 years.
In the 37th over, Maharaj removed Kieron Powell (51), who was caught by Anrich Nortje at deep midwicket, turning the game in South Africa’s favour.
Maharaj’s next victim was former captain and all-rounder Jason Holder (0), who was nudge to Keegan Petersen at forward short leg.
The following ball, Joshua Da Silva (0) tickled down the leg side only to be caught by Wiaan Mulder. And it allows Maharaj to write history.
Keshav Maharaj debuted for the Proteas in a Test match against Australia in 2016.
The 31-year-old spinner has 127 wickets to his name in 36 Test appearances.
Meanwhile, Geoff Griffin, against England at Lord’s in 1960, was the only other South African to score a hat trick in a test match.
On the penultimate day of the final Test, Maharaj returned with 5 for 36. And Kagiso Rabada with three wickets to bowl out West Indies for 165 before lunch, helping the Proteas win the Test series 2-0.
“I didn’t know what to do (to celebrate), I thought about doing a slide but ended up stopping dead in my tracks. There was too much excitement and adrenalin in me,” Maharaj said after match
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