The Kiwis had mustered 173 in 18 overs and were looking set to get a total close to 200. Little, though, had other ideas. The first ball of his over went for a single. On the second ball, he banged it in short and forced Kane Williamson to slightly miscue his pull. The top edge flew towards deep backward square leg, where Gareth Delany completed the catch.

A delivery later, Little got the ball to nip back sharply into James Neesham, catching him on the crease and rapping him on the back pad. Neesham reviewed but that proved to be futile with Hawk-Eye returning with three reds.

Little produced a similar delivery to outwit Mitchell Santner and etch himself into cricketing folklore. The ball pitched on a length on off stump before nipping back and trapping Santner lbw.

Get in, Josh Little. Dismisses a set Kane Williamson, before unleashing two proper pearlers to bring a hat-trick – absolute gem of a bowler. #T20WorldCup

— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) November 4, 2022

Little became the second cricketer from Ireland to pick up a hat-trick at the men’s T20 World Cup, a year after Curtis Campher had achieved the feat in the UAE against the Netherlands. His exploits meant that Ireland are now the only country to have two bowlers to have taken a men’s T20 World Cup hat-trick. The troika of dismissals also allowed Ireland to contain New Zealand to 185.

Watch Little’s stunning hat-trick here:

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