Right-arm pacer Megan Schutt has scripted history as she became the first woman cricketer from Australia to claim a hat-trick in one-day Internationals (ODIs).
In the third and final contest of the ODI series between Australia and West Indies played on Wednesday, Schutt did not have any wicket till 9.3 overs of her spell. However, she scalped three wickets in the remaining three balls of her final over as she packed back Chinelle Henry, Karishma Ramharack and Afy Fletcher. West Indies woman were eventually bundled out for mere 180 which the visitors chased down easily inside 32 overs with eight wickets in hand.
With the win at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Wednesday, Australia Women completed a 3-0 series sweep over West Indies Women.
Meanwhile, Schutt has also become the first woman cricketer to take two hat-tricks in international cricket. Her first hat-trick came in a T20I against India in March last year when she had dismissed Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma in consecutive deliveries.
It’s the 11th hat-trick in women’s ODIs, while Schutt is the seventh Australian, male or female, to achieve the feat in the 50-over format.
Here is the list of other women cricketers with ODI hat-tricks:
CA Hodges (England) vs Denmark Women in 1993
JE Harris (New Zealand) vs West Indies in 1993
EC Drumm (New Zealand) vs Australia Women in 1995/96
CJ Connor (England Women) vs India Women in 1999
SA Young (Ireland Women) vs England Women in 2001
L Egging (Netherlands Women) vs Pakistan Women in 2007/08
D van Niekerk (South Africa Women) vs West Indies Women in 2012/13
I Ranaweera (Sri Lanka Women) vs New Zealand Women in 2015/16
Rumana Ahmed (Bangladesh Women) vs Ireland Women in 2016
M Klaas (South Africa Women) vs Pakistan Women in 2019
(With inputs from IANS)