Australia quick grabs three of the Windies top order to complete rare feat in Kolkata
Hazlewood snares hat-trick in WT20 warm-up
Josh Hazlewood claimed a hat-trick in Australia's World T20 warm-up match against the West Indies at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
Hazlewood dismissed Jason Holder, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo to complete the rare feat in stifling conditions in Kolkata.
Scorecard: Australia v West Indies
Opening the batting, towering allrounder Holder was trapped by Hazlewood lbw for six in the fourth over.
Samuels then strolled to the crease in his typically casual manner, only to about-face a moment later when the Bendemeer boy bowled him first ball.
Hazlewood completed the hat-trick with a beauty to Bravo – jagging the delivery back from off to leg to catch the batsman's inside edge and uproot middle stump.
The 25-year-old started with a maiden over before destroying the Windies top-order, finally concluding his spell with the figures of 3-4 off three overs.
Quick Single: Australia succumb to warm-up defeat
"I think on that wicket we just tried to hit a length with that new ball, (instead of) floating it up," Hazlewood said after play.
"Any full balls were easy to score off. We just tried to hit the top of the stumps and (I was) lucky enough to get a couple straight and they missed them.
"I'm pretty happy with how they came out tonight. There's still a few things to work on but we're improving as time goes on."
As for any words of wisdom from his teammates ahead of the hat-trick ball, Hazlewood said the advice was pretty simple.
"(Keep it) full and straight - if you're hitting the stumps you know you're in the game," he added. "I've had a couple of opportunities the summer just gone and didn't get it right, so I was happy tonight."
Hazlewood was close to getting a Test hat-trick against the same opponents this summer in the first Commonwealth Bank Test in Hobart.
The right-armer had Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor out off consecutive balls, but spinner Jomel Warrican avoided the hat-trick ball.