One of the most popular figures in England’s domestic circuit, Essex skipper Simon Harmer made an incredible impact against Sussex . The 34-year-old returned with excellent figures of 4/28 to help his side bundle out the opposition for 138 in 18.4 overs after setting the target of 164. Three of his four wickets came in his opening over, and more importantly, he got rid of all three batters on the first three balls of his spell, resulting in a hat- trick.
It was Essex’s first hat-trick in the format after Shaun Tait’s against Nottinghamshire in 2013 and the first against Sussex since Dimitri Mascarenhas for Hampshire back in 2004.
After a good start, Essex Eagles’ batting collapsed in the middle overs and they failed to get any momentum towards the backend of their innings. They managed to post 163-7 from their 20 overs. Opener Feroze Khushi (55 of 38 balls) and middle-order batter Robin Das (31 of 26 balls) did the bulk of the scoring for the Eagles.
Defending the target, the bowling duo of Sam Cook and Harmer didn’t allow Sussex batters to score freely. Off-spinner Harmer introduced himself into the attackto bowl the third over . His first victim was Tom Alsop, who tried to hit over the top and instead played straight into the hands of Cook. In coming batter Shadab Khan clipped the next ball to square leg, while Michael Burgess was adjuged lbw, sweeping the hat-trick delivery.
Here’s the video:
Essex will play their next Vitality Blast match against Hampshire Hawks at the Cloud County Ground on Friday.
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