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Kuldeep makes history with hat-trick

Left-arm wrist-spinner becomes third Indian to take an ODI hat-trick as Aussies fall apart in Kolkata

Kuldeep Yadav has become just the third Indian to take a hat-trick in one-day international cricket, ripping through Australia's lower order in the second ODI at Eden Gardens.


At the same venue where Harbhajan Singh became the first Indian to take a Test hat-trick in the famous Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001, Kuldeep removed Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins in consecutive deliveries in Australia's run chase.

Wade's run of low scores with the bat continued when he dragged a wide delivery onto his stumps on two, Agar was trapped in front lbw next ball before Pat Cummins edged a brilliant wrong'un through to MS Dhoni, who took an excellent catch to spark wild celebrations from the healthy home crowd.

Speaking on match eve, the confident 22-year-old - who took four wickets against the Aussies on Test debut in March - identified Australia's lower order as a potential point of weakness.

"Obviously, when you get an opener and the No.3 out early then the team is under pressure," he said of batting stars David Warner and Steve Smith.

"Our plan is to get Warner out early because he is one player that can change the game from any situation.

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"Steve Smith is also another player that if he bats until the 35 or 40th over then they put the pressure on the bowling team because they can score big."

The spinner sprinted off towards backward square leg when the wicket of Cummins fell and was mobbed by his jubilant teammates.

The left-arm wrist spinner is the third Indian to achieve the feat and the first in 26 years, joining Kapil Dev (against Sri Lanka, also at Eden Gardens in 1991) and Chetan Sharma (against New Zealand in Nagpur in 1987).

It's the first ODI hat-trick at Eden Gardens since Kapil's effort in 1991.

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Australia's Qantas Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

ODI Fixtures


September 17: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

September 21: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

September 24: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur


T20 Fixtures


October 1: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi

October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati

October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad