Sheffield Shield: 2 hat-tricks! Mitchell Starc rocks Western Australia ahead of Ashes

Sydney: Australia’s leading pacer Mitchell Starc warmed up for the Ashes by picking up two hat-tricks in a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia. Starc’s heroics helped New South Wales register a 171-run win.

The left-arm speedster became the first bowler to pick up two hat-tricks in a Sheffield Shield game and the 8th player to pick up two hat-tricks in a first class match.

Starc, who finished the match with the figures of 7/97, picked up 3 wickets for 41 runs in the second innings. Starc dismissed Jason Behrendorff and David Moody with the last two balls of his 15th over and Jon Wells with the first of his 16th over to complete his second hat-trick of the match.

In the first innings, the Australian pacer had ripped through the Western Australia tail to pick up hat-trick. He first bowled Jason Behrendorf, and then trapped David Moody leg- before-wicket before scattering the stumps of Simon Mackin. He finished with figures of 4 wickets for 56 runs in 20 overs.

“They are taking the Mickey out of me for cleaning up the tail again, but someone’s got to do it. So it was good fun,” Starc had said after picking up a hat-trick in the first innings.

”I am pretty sure they all know where it is going and they all keep missing it so I will keep bowling it for now. “I was pretty happy with my rhythm yesterday and today,” added Starc.

Here’s the list of bowlers who picked up hat-tricks in different innings of a same match:

RO Jenkins for Worcestershire vs Surrey in 1949,

Amin Lakhani for Combined XI vs Indians in 1978-79,

TJ Matthews for Australia vs South Africa in 1912,

Charles Warrington Leonard Parker for Gloucestershire vs Middlesex in 1924,

JS Rao for Services vs North Punjab in 1963-64,

Alfred Shaw for Nottinghamshire vs Gloucestershire in 1884

Albert Trott for Middlesex vs Somerset in 1907.