Naseem Shah, the 16-year-old Pakistan fast bowler, became the youngest player to take a Test hat-trick when he dismissed Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam and Mahmudullah on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. Shah’s feat saw him surpass the former Bangladesh legspinner Alok Kapali, who held the record for nearly 17 years, having taken a Test hat-trick against Pakistan in Ausust 2003, at the age of 19.

ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary recorded how Shah’s accomplishment came about:

40.4 Naseem Shah to Najmul Hossain Shanto, OUT, huge appeal for lbw, Pakistan are very interested. Azhar checks with the bowler, keeper and signals for a review. This one came back in a long way to hit Shanto on the right thigh pad or thereabouts. The height may be the only bone of consideration here. And what a good review it is, ball tracking confirms this would’ve crashed into leg stump. Measured call to take the review. It wasn’t impulsive, they all collectively felt it was worth a shout and boy, have they been proved right or what? Right at the fag end of the day. This will lift Pakistan just as Bangladesh were beginning to dream of wiping out the deficit with not more than two down.

Najmul Hossain Shanto lbw b Naseem Shah 38 (87b 3×4 1×6) SR: 43.67

Out comes Taijul, the nightwatchman

40.5 Naseem Shah to Taijul Islam, OUT, full, straight and gone! What a ball from Naseem. Make that two in two. This was angled back in from wide of the crease, the ball veered in late to beat the inside edge and hit him low on the pad. Naseem didn’t even bother appealing. Nigel Llong sent him on his bike almost immediately.

Taijul Islam lbw b Naseem Shah 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Naseem Shah on a hat-trick. Mahmudullah comes out at No. 6. What did Bangladesh achieve by sending in a nightwatchman? The man who they wanted to protect has to face the hat-trick ball. Two slips and a short cover. Short leg, short midwicket. Here we go

40.6 Naseem Shah to Mahmudullah, OUT, edged and gone! Naseem has done it. Hat-trick! He has lit up this Test and how. Joy in the Pakistan camp. He bowled this full and wide. This was there for the drive even though the ball moved away just a little, Mahmudullah couldn’t hold back but was late on the shot. Got a thick edge that flew low but Haris pouched it superbly. He needed to stay low, moved instinctively to his right to pluck that. What a find this Naseem Shah is.

Mahmudullah c Haris Sohail b Naseem Shah 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Naseem Shah’s feat provides the 45^th occasion of a bowler performing a hat trick in the annals of test cricket. All such occasions are tabulated below with some interesting notes related to the feat. A hat-trick is when a bowler takes wickets with three consecutive deliveries

No	Bowler	Teams	Ground	Series
1	FR Spofforth	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1878-79
2	W Bates	Eng v Aus	Melbourne	1882-83
3	J Briggs	Eng v Aus	Sydney	1891-92
4	GA Lohmann	Eng v SAF	Port Elizabeth	1895-96
5	JT Hearne	Eng v Aus	Leeds	1899
6	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1901-02
7	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1903-04
8	TJ Matthews-FI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
9	TJ Matthews-SI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
10	MJC Allom	Eng v NZl	Christchurch	1929-30
11	TWJ Goddard	Eng v SAF	Johannesburg	1938-39
12	PJ Loader	Eng v Win	Leeds	1957
13	LF Kline	Aus v SAF	Cape Town	1957-58
14	WW Hall	Win v Pak	Lahore	1958-59
15	GM Griffin	SAF v Eng	Lord’s	1960
16	LR Gibbs	Win v Aus	Adelaide	1960-61
17	PJ Petherick	NZl v Pak	Lahore	1976-77
18	CA Walsh	Win v Aus	Brisbane	1988-89
19	MG Hughes	Aus v Win	Perth	1988-89
20	DW Fleming	Aus v Pak	Rawalpindi	1994-95
21	SK Warne	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1994-95
22	DG Cork	Eng v Win	Manchester	1995
23	D Gough	Eng v Aus	Sydney	1998-99
24	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Lahore	1998-99
25	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Dhaka	1998-99
26	DNT Zoysa	Srl v Zim	Harare	1999-00
27	Abdul Razzaq	Pak v Srl	Galle	1999-00
28	GD McGrath	Aus v Win	Perth	2000-01
29	Harbhajan Singh	Ind v Aus	Kolkata	2000-01
30	Mohammad Sami	Pak v Srl	Lahore	2001-02
31	JJC Lawson	Win v Aus	Bridgetown	2002-03
32	Alok Kapali	Ban v Pak	Peshawar	2003
33	AM Blignaut	Zim v Ban	Harare	2003-04
34	MJ Hoggard	Eng v Win	Barbados	2003-04
35	JEC Franklin	NZl v Ban	Dhaka	2004-05
36	IK Pathan	Ind v Pak	Karachi	2005-06
37	RJ Sidebottom	Eng v NZl	Hamilton	2007-08
38	PM Siddle	Aus v Eng	Brisbane	2010-11
39	SCJ Broad	Eng v Ind	Nottingham	2011
40	Sohag Gazi	Ban v NZl	Chittagong	2013-14
41	SCJ Broad	Eng v Srl	Leeds	2014
42	HMRKB Herath	Srl v Aus	Galle	2016
43	MM Ali	Eng v SAF	The Oval	2017
44	JJ Bumrah	Ind v Win	Kingston	2019
45	Naseem Shah	Pak v Ban	Rawalpindi	2020

NOTES –  Allom, Petherick and Fleming did the hat-trick on debut. The second Trumble and the Griffin hat-tricks were in the final Test of these players. The Walsh, Hughes and Lawson hat-tricks involved two innings. Matthews did the hat-trick in each innings. Petherick has the most expensive innings analysis of somebody doing the hat trick (3 for 103). Largest total to include a hat-trick is 537 by Pakistan at Rawalpindi, 1994-95. Least number of career Test wickets for a bowler doing a hat- trick is 6 by Alok Kapali. Zoysa’s hat-trick was from the first three balls he delivered in the Test. Pathan took his hat-trick in the first over of the Test.

Naseem Shah’s feat provides the fifth occasion of a Pakistan bowler performing the hat trick and he became the fourth  Pakistan bowler to do so

No	Bowler	Teams	Ground	Series
1	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Lahore	1998-99
2	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Dhaka	1998-99
3	Abdul Razzaq	Pak v Srl	Galle	1999-00
4	Mohd Sami	Pak v Srl	Lahore	2001-02
5	Naseem Shah	Pak v Ban	Rawalpindi	2020

Naseem Shah became the third bowler to perform the hat trick against Bangladesh in Test cricket.

No	Bowler	Teams	Ground	Series
1	AM Blignaut	Zim v Ban	Harare	2003-04
2	JEC Franklin	NZl v Ban	Dhaka	2004-05
3	Naseem Shah	Pak v Ban	Rawalpindi	2020

H Trumble, SCJ Broad, TJ Matthews and Wasim Akram are the four bowlers who have performed the hat trick on two occasions.

No	Bowler	Teams	Ground	Series
1	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1901-02
2	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1903-04
1	SCJ Broad	Eng v Ind	Nottingham	2011
2	SCJ Broad	Eng v Srl	Leeds	2014
1	TJ Matthews-FI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
2	TJ Matthews-SI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
1	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Lahore	1998-99
2	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Dhaka	1998-99

H Trumble, TJ Matthews and Wasim Akram are the three bowlers who have performed the hat trick on two occasions against the same oppositions

No	Bowler	Teams	Ground	Series
1	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1901-02
2	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1903-04
1	TJ Matthews-FI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
2	TJ Matthews-SI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
1	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Lahore	1998-99
2	Wasim Akram	Pak v Srl	Dhaka	1998-99

H Trumble and TJ Matthews are the two bowlers who have performed the hat trick on two occasions against the same oppositions at the same venue

No	Bowler	Teams	Ground	Series
1	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1901-02
2	H Trumble	Aus v Eng	Melbourne	1903-04
1	TJ Matthews-FI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
2	TJ Matthews-SI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912

TJ Matthews is the only  bowler who has performed the hat trick in both innings of a test. His feat came  against South Africa at Manchester in 1912

No	Bowler	Teams	Ground	Series
1	TJ Matthews-FI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912
2	TJ Matthews-SI	Aus v SAF	Manchester	1912