On Friday, Joshua Little achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the second Irish bowler to secure a hat-trick in the T20 World Cup, following Curtis Campher’s achievement in the previous year in Dubai. Little’s outstanding feat occurred in the 19th over of the match, where he dismissed New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (61), James Neesham (0), and Mitchell Santner, marking only the second hat-trick of the tournament.

Ending the innings with impressive figures of 3 for 22, Little now holds the record for the most wickets taken in T20 Internationals in a calendar year, accumulating an impressive total of 39 wickets. Reflecting on his performance, Little mentioned, “I guess it was a little bit of tail back into the left-handers, wanted to execute it two times in a row and I got lucky to have managed it. I think I was a bit short early on, then went a bit greedy and went full.”

In recognition of his achievements, Cricket Ireland tweeted their congratulations to Josh Little, revealing that he would be embarking on a development opportunity with the Chennai Super Kings in the early stages of the upcoming IPL.

Joshua Little’s cricketing journey has seen notable progress since 2017. At the age of 17, he was selected to play in a series in India but opted to prioritize academics over cricket. Despite facing criticism on social media for his decision, he stood firm on his choice. By September 2016, he had already become the second-youngest player to feature in a T20.

In the T20 World Cup, facing England, Little showcased his talent as a left-arm seamer, attributing his success to the confusion caused by his wrist-snap at release, which often results in the ball coming out at a slightly higher pace than batsmen expect. This deceptive technique proved effective as Jos Buttler edged behind, and Alex Hales couldn’t control a pull, getting caught at square-leg.