Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana picked up a hat-trick during the second ODI against New Zealand at Seddon Park, Hamilton today (January 8), a first in the country in over three decades.
The second ODI of the three-match series was cut short by rain, reducing it to a 37-over game. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first. After the early wicket of Will Young in the fifth over, Mark Chapman (62 off 52) and Rachin Ravindra (79 off 63) provided New Zealand a strong platform.
Theekshana, who opened the bowling alongside Asitha Fernando, removed Chapman in the 20th over to break the 112-run partnership. Some decent middle order partnerships interspersed with regular wickets followed, bringing New Zealand to a strong total of 247-5 by over 34.4. With 14 balls remaining in the innings, they would have hoped to get over the 270-run mark, but were restricted by a Theekshana hat-trick.
The mystery spinner first got Mitchell Santner caught at cover on the fifth ball of the 35th over before dismissing Nathan Smith first ball, having him caught at point. Daryl Mitchell was removed by Eshan Malinga off the last ball of the 36th over, before Theekshana came on to get rid of Matt Henry with his first ball of the 37th to complete a split hat-trick. New Zealand eventually finished with 255-9, and Theekshana registered career best figures of 4-44 from eight overs.
Full list of men's ODI hat-tricks
Theekshana became the seventh Sri Lankan to take a men's ODI hat-trick after Chaminda Vaas (twice), Lasith Malinga (thrice), Farvez Maharoof, Thisara Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Shehan Madushanka.
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This was also the first men's ODI hat-trick in New Zealand since Danny Morrison's hat-trick against India in an ODI in Napier in March 1994. His victims were Kapil Dev, Salil Ankola, and Nayan Mongia; all bowled.
These two remain the only two men's ODI hat-tricks in New Zealand till date. Overall, Theekshana's is the 50th hat-trick in men's ODIs and the first since Wesley Madhevere's hat-trick for Zimbabwe against Netherlands in March 2023. It is also only the fifth all-caught hat-trick in men's ODIs, with the last such hat-trick belonging to Steven Finn of England in 2015.
| Player | Match | Venue | Date |
| Jalal-ud-Din | Pakistan v Australia | Hyderabad (P) | 20/09/1982 |
| Bruce Reid | Australia v New Zealand | Sydney | 29/01/1986 |
| Chetan Sharma | India v New Zealand | Nagpur | 31/10/1987 |
| Wasim Akram | Pakistan v West Indies | Sharjah | 14/10/1989 |
| Wasim Akram | Pakistan v Australia | Sharjah | 04/05/1990 |
| Kapil Dev | India v Sri Lanka | Calcutta | 04/01/1991 |
| Aaqib Javed | Pakistan v India | Sharjah | 25/10/1991 |
| DK Morrison | New Zealand v India | Napier | 25/03/1994 |
| Waqar Younis | Pakistan v New Zealand | East London | 19/12/1994 |
| Saqlain Mushtaq | Pakistan v Zimbabwe | Peshawar | 03/11/1996 |
| Eddo Brandes | Zimbabwe v England | Harare | 03/01/1997 |
| Anthony Stuart | Australia v Pakistan | Melbourne | 16/01/1997 |
| Saqlain Mushtaq | Pakistan v Zimbabwe | The Oval | 11/06/1999 |
| Chaminda Vaas | Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe | Colombo (SSC) | 08/12/2001 |
| Mohammad Sami | Pakistan v West Indies | Sharjah | 15/02/2002 |
| Chaminda Vaas | Sri Lanka v Bangladesh | Pietermaritzburg | 14/02/2003 |
| Brett Lee | Australia v Kenya | Durban | 15/03/2003 |
| James Anderson | England v Pakistan | The Oval | 20/06/2003 |
| Steve Harmison | England v India | Nottingham | 01/09/2004 |
| Charl Langeveldt | South Africa v West Indies | Barbados | 11/05/2005 |
| Shahadat Hossain | Bangladesh v Zimbabwe | Harare | 02/08/2006 |
| Jerome Taylor | West Indies v Australia | Mumbai (BS) | 18/10/2006 |
| Shane Bond | New Zealand v Australia | Hobart | 14/01/2007 |
| Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka v South Africa | Guyana | 28/03/2007 |
| Andrew Flintoff | England v West Indies | St Lucia | 03/04/2009 |
| Farveez Maharoof | Sri Lanka v India | Dambulla | 22/06/2010 |
| Abdur Razzak | Bangladesh v Zimbabwe | Dhaka | 03/12/2010 |
| Kemar Roach | West Indies v Netherlands | Delhi | 28/02/2011 |
| Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka v Kenya | Colombo (RPS) | 01/03/2011 |
| Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka v Australia | Colombo (RPS) | 22/08/2011 |
| Dan Christian | Australia v Sri Lanka | Melbourne | 02/03/2012 |
| Thisara Perera | Sri Lanka v Pakistan | Colombo (RPS) | 16/06/2012 |
| Clint McKay | Australia v England | Cardiff | 14/09/2013 |
| Rubel Hossain | Bangladesh v New Zealand | Dhaka | 29/10/2013 |
| Prosper Utseya | Zimbabwe v South Africa | Harare | 29/08/2014 |
| Taijul Islam | Bangladesh v Zimbabwe | Dhaka | 01/12/2014 |
| Steven Finn | England v Australia | Melbourne | 14/02/2015 |
| JP Duminy | South Africa v Sri Lanka | Sydney | 18/03/2015 |
| Kagiso Rabada | South Africa v Bangladesh | Mirpur | 10/07/2015 |
| James Faulkner | Australia v Sri Lanka | Colombo (RPS) | 24/08/2016 |
| Taskin Ahmed | Bangladesh v Sri Lanka | Dambulla | 28/03/2017 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe | Galle | 02/07/2017 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | India v Australia | Kolkata | 21/09/2017 |
| Shehan Madushanka | Sri Lanka v Bangladesh | Dhaka | 27/01/2018 |
| Imran Tahir | South Africa v Zimbabwe | Bloemfontein | 03/10/2018 |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand v Pakistan | Abu Dhabi | 07/11/2018 |
| Mohammed Shami | India v Afghanistan | Southampton | 22/06/2019 |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand v Australia | Lord's | 29/06/2019 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | India v West Indies | Visakhapatnam | 18/12/2019 |
| Wessly Madhevere | Zimbabwe v Netherlands | Harare | 23/03/2023 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | Sri Lanka v New Zealand | Hamilton | 08/01/2025 |
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