Present Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza achieves a unique feat in recent cricket. In a recent domestic one-day game, Mortaza not just claimed a hat-trick, he took four wickets in four consecutive deliveries.

It was the List A match between Abahani Limited and Agrani Bank Cricket Club in Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League at Fatullah on Tuesday when Abahani Limited pacer Mashrafe Mortaza claimed this unique feat.

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Abahani (290/6) set a target of 291 runs for Agrani who were bowled out for 279 runs in 49.5 over. Mortaza did that incredible thing in the very last over when the opponent needed 13 runs for victory in the last over with four wickets in hand.

After conceding a run in the first delivery, Mortaza claimed four wickets in next four balls and wrapped up the match. First Mortaza dismissed the set batsman Dhiman Ghosh for 46 runs and then Abdur Razzaq lost his wicket in the very next ball after scoring 12 runs.

In the very next ball, Mortaza completed his hat-trick after dismissing Shaiful Islam. The right-arm pacer stretched his consecutive wickets account in the next ball too as he dismissed Fazle Rabby and completed the innings.

While Abahani won the match by 11 runs, Mortaza completed with the bowling figure of 9.5-0-44-6.

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Mortaza became the only seventh bowler in the List A history to claim four wickets in the four consecutive balls. Out of those seven incidents, only once happened in international cricket history and that was in 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga claimed a hat-trick and took four wickets in his four consecutive deliveries against South Africa.

Here is the name of the bowlers who have claimed four wickets in four consecutive deliveries in a List A game:   

Talking about his performance, Mortaza said according to ESPNCricinfo, “My performance is helping me prepare for the rest of the year. With the old ball, my strength is the cutter and it is with this delivery that I took the last four wickets. There’s always pressure on the bowler. I was bowling with the third-man up so an edge was going to go for four. I thought of pushing him back but then again, being positive is very important in these situations.”

Mortaza also revealed that he is playing this domestic tournament to stay fit and in form. He said, “Others may be playing Tests and T20s but this tournament is a great chance for me to stay fit and in form. I want to play all 16 matches so that I can start the next ODI series with the same rhythm I finished the [January] tri-series.”