The veteran Indian pacer, Jaydev Unadkat ended 2022 by returning to the Test squad after a huge gap of 12 years. He started the new year by taking a hat trick in the very first over against Delhi in the Ranji Trophy on Tuesday. The Saurashtra seamer followed that up by completing a 5-for in the second over as Delhi was left reeling at 10/7 in Rajkot.
Delhi captain Yash Dhull decided to bat first on a pitch that was covered by grass and immediately regretted the decision. Unadkat got the crucial wickets of Dhruv Shorey, Vaibhav Rawal, and Dhull on his third, fourth and fifth deliveries to see Delhi at 0/3 in the first over.
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Chirag Jani also struck at the other end to get the wicket of Ayush Badoni as all four batters failed to get off the mark. In his second over, Unadkat got the wickets of Jonty Sidhu and Lalit Yadav on 4 and 0 respectively as Delhi’s score read a baffling 4/5. In the process, Unadkat became the first bowler to take a hat trick in the first over of India’s domestic cricket competition.
Jaydev Unadkat 8-39, his career-best figures.
Became the third Saurashtra bowler to do the hat-trick today.
— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) January 3, 2023
Holy moly!! Delhi were 10/7 at one stage!!
Unadkat picked up a hat-trick in the very first over!
Unadkat picked up 5 wkts in his first 12 balls!
And 6 in 18!
5 of Delhi's first 6 wkts did not trouble the scorers. pic.twitter.com/YGlgOLjzQU— Guru Gulab (@madaddie24) January 3, 2023
The five-wicket haul was Unadkat’s 21st in first-class cricket and the left-arm seamer’s figures at the point read: 2-0-5-5. After three matches, Saurashtra is third in Group B with 12 points, including one win and a couple of draws. Mumbai and Maharashtra are first and second making the fixture important for 2019-20 in the quest to make the knockouts.
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Jaydev Unadkat has been witnessing a purple patch in recent times. Last month, he led Saurashtra to the Vijay Hazare Trophy title having picked up 19 wickets in 10 games at an economy of 3.33. He then was roped into the Indian squad to face Bangladesh and picked up his first Test wicket. He ended with two more as India recorded a 2-0 series win.
