Warner eyes rare milestone after Cummins joins hat-trick club

When Towrid Hridoy scooped the first ball of the final over of Bangladesh's innings to Josh Hazlewood at short fine leg, Pat Cummins spun on his heels and began a composed walk back to the top of his run up with his head down.

Not an usual celebration for a wicket in the 20th over, but quite unusual for a hat-trick delivery.

In Cummins' defence, he had no idea he'd just achieved the milestone.

"I didn't know I was on a hat-trick," Cummins told reporters with a broad smile after play.

"I did (know) the previous over, it came up on the screen. But by the time the next over came around, I totally forgot about it."

The Aussie quick had taken wickets with the final two balls of the 18th over, Mahmudullah bowled and Mahedi Hasan caught at deep third.

When Mitch Marsh threw him the ball to close out the innings, Cummins wasn't contemplating the prospect of joining an elite club.  

Nor did it immediately click when he had.

It wasn't until Marcus Stoinis, who had charged in from the deep and alerted him, did the fast bowler realise what he had achieved.

It rounded out another impressive performance from the vastly-improved T20 bowler, who as he did against England, overcame a slow start to finish strongly.

His first over against Bangladesh was the sixth, the final Powerplay over, and Cummins' radar wasn't dialled in right away.

He bowled a wide down leg side and one way over both batter and keeper's head that cost five, with the over going for 12 all up.

But his next three overs cost only 17, not giving up a boundary following his opening spell.  

The two most recent hat-trick takers for Australia in men's T20s were Nathan Ellis (which coincidentally also involved Mahmudullah as the first wicket) and Ashton Agar.

Both were dropped for yesterday clash with Bangladesh, with Cummins one of those included in their place.

"Agar and Ellis on the bench have T20 hat-tricks, so it was good to join that club," Cummins told the host broadcaster.

"Pretty awesome to tick that off. The boys are welcoming me in the club. A good club to be part of."

Hat-tricks for Australia in men's T20Is

 

Brett Lee v Bangladesh, T20 World Cup, September 2007

 

Ashton Agar v South Africa, February 2020

 

Nathan Ellis v Bangladesh, August 2021

 

Pat Cummins v Bangladesh, Friday

While Cummins became only the second Australia to take a hat-trick in men's T20 World Cups (behind Brett Lee in 2007, also against Bangladesh), Warner is now within touching distance of becoming the first Aussie to reach 1000 runs in the tournament.

Such has been Warner's dominance since his first T20 World Cup in 2009, only Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Mahela Jayawardena have scored more runs in the tournament's 17-year history.

The evergreen opener was the rock in Australia's wet run chase at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, cashing in on an early life when he was dropped on five to top score with 53 not out.

Chasing 141, Warner showed his intent immediately.

Against recalled spinner Mahedi Hasan, Warner brought out his extremely effective reserve sweep off his second ball to net him four, and showcased his regulation slog sweep off his sixth delivery, which added another six runs to his score.

He was just as destructive against pace as he was spin, bringing up a 34-ball fifty was an effortless flick off his pads off Taskin Ahmed that easily cleared the fence and landed with a thud onto the sopping lawned banks.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting praised his former teammate Warner, who is now rapidly coming to the end of his decorated international career.

Warner has nominated this World Cup as his last in T20 internationals, and has already called time on his Test career and is almost certainly finished in one-day internationals as well.

According to Ponting, he will be missed for more than just the runs he scores.

"I’ve said it a few times already, I think he’s going to be really hard to replace," Ponting told journalists at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

"Not just with the runs but the way he plays the game.

"Being able to open the batting the way that he has even in Test cricket, pretty aggressive mindset, puts pressure back on the bowler straight away. That stuff is pretty hard to find.

"So it's one thing to lose the runs, but also the other things he brings to the team.

"I’ve always said he’s a winner, he has that winner’s attitude and that can be infectious around teams. They’ll miss everything about having him around I think."

Cummins echoed Ponting's thoughts post-game and marvelled at the 37-year-old's longevity.

The left-hander has 169 runs for the T20 World Cup so far, placing him in the tournament's top five.

"I feel like every ICC event he's always up there in the runs tally," Cummins said.

"I love the way he's been taking the game on, some big sixes even over the deep fielders.

"He's always got a huge appetite for runs, particularly in these tournaments.

"Whether it's knowing it's his last hurrah or whatever, he looks in great form and continue to play with that freedom, which is great"

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Australia's squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Australia's Group B fixtures

June 6: Beat Oman by 39 runs

June 9: Beat England by 36 runs

June 12: Beat Namibia by nine wickets

June 16: Beat Scotland by five wickets

Australia's Super Eight fixtures

21 June: Beat Bangladesh by 28 runs (DLS)

23 June: v Afghanistan, Arnos Vale Ground, St Vincent, 10.30am AEST

25 June: v India, Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, St Lucia, 12.30am AEST

Semi-finals to follow if Australia qualify

For the full list of fixtures click here. All matches live and exclusive on Prime Video. Sign up here for a 30-day free trial