Meet Joshua Little- Ireland’s star to bag a hat-trick in T20 World Cup and become leading wicket taker in 2022

Joshua Little became the second Irishman to take a T20 hat trick, also surpassing Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichanne for the most T20I wickets in 2022.

The Irish pacer dismissed Kane Williamson, James Neesham, and Mitchell Santner in the 19th over of the Super-12 match against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval, finishing with statistics of 3-22.

He became the tournament’s second bowler to record a hat trick in 2022. Earlier in the tournament, Karthik Meiyappan of the UAE took a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in round one in Geelong.

Little is the second Irish player to clinch a hat trick in the T20 World Cup, following all-rounder Curtis Campher in the 2021 edition.

He removed Santner for his 39th wicket of the calendar year 2022, surpassing Lamichanne’s total of 38.

Joshua Little was a net bowler for MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2022. Little had a good chance of making it to the main squad because he was with the team and CSK needed a foreign pacer in case any player was ruled out.

Even if he didn’t make the main team, Little would have learned a lot from some of the top players and coaches in the game. Little, if signed by any IPL side, might go on to make history in December as a result of his performance.

Given his previous association with CSK, a bid from the Yellow Army may not come as a surprise to the Irishman. Aside from Little, players to keep an eye on in the IPL 2023 mini-auction include Andrew Balbirnie, Harry Tector, and Lorcan Tucker.

Coming to the match, New Zealand scored 185/6 from 20 overs. Kane Williamson returned to form, scoring 61 off 35 balls with five fours and three sixes at a strike rate of over 174.

Opener Finn Allen (32 off 18 balls) and all-rounder Daryl Mitchell (31* off 21 balls) also contributed significantly.

Little (3/22) was Ireland’s standout bowler. Hoever,  Ireland failed to chase the target and finished with 150/9, losing the match by 35 runs.

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