Amit Mishra celebrates after picking a Hat-Trick against Pune Warriors India
SRH had set a modest target, and the game looked to be slipping away. But Mishra, with his clever leg-spin, turned the tide by claiming his third IPL hat-trick, the most by any bowler in the tournament’s history. His spell not only derailed Pune’s chase but also sealed an 11-run win for SRH. Unsurprisingly, he was named Man of the Match for his heroics. Let’s head straight to the 17th April 2013 and relive the match between Pune Warriors India and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 22nd match of the 2013 IPL between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Pune Warriors India turned into a showcase of brilliance by leg-spinner Amit Mishra, whose unforgettable all-round performance lit up the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune. In a low-scoring thriller on April 17, 2013, Mishra delivered one of the most dramatic and match-winning performances in IPL history, taking a match-defining hat-trick and guiding his team to an 11-run win.
Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a modest total of 119/8 in their 20 overs after being put into bat by the Warriors. The innings began on a shaky note with top-order batters like Parthiv Patel (12), Quinton de Kock (2), and Cameron White (0) falling early. At one stage, SRH was reduced to 44/6, and the innings seemed to be spiralling towards collapse. However, Amit Mishra walked in at this critical point and stabilized the innings, scoring a valuable 30 runs off 24 balls.
His knock included 3 boundaries and played a crucial role in pushing SRH past the 100-run mark. He stitched together a vital partnership with Ashish Reddy (19*), allowing the team to post a defendable total. Earlier in the match, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for Pune Warriors with 3 wickets for 18 runs in his four-over spell. Rahul Sharma took 2 wickets, and Mitchell Marsh and Ashok Dinda got one each.
The real drama, however, unfolded in the second innings. Chasing 120, Pune Warriors India got off to a promising start with Robin Uthappa scoring a quick 22 and Aaron Finch contributing 16. At one stage, they were 57/3 and looked well on course. But once the pressure mounted in the latter stages, wickets began to tumble. Steven Smith (17) and Angelo Mathews (20) tried to anchor the chase, but the SRH bowlers kept things tight.
The match was going smoothly, and it looked like Pune Warriors India were going to have an easy win, but then came Amit Mishra’s magical 19th over, one of the most iconic moments in IPL history. With Pune needing just 14 runs from the last 12 balls and four wickets in hand, the game seemed to be slipping away from Hyderabad. But Mishra had other plans.
On the second ball of the 19th over, he dismissed Angelo Mathews, who went for a big hit but only managed a top edge that Dale Steyn safely pouched at long-off. The fourth ball brought the dismissal of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was trapped LBW by a sharp googly. It was a smart, full delivery that beat the bat and hit the pads plumb in front. Umpire Asad Rauf took his time, but eventually raised his finger.
The very next ball, Rahul Sharma was cleaned up as he attempted a wild slog against a fuller delivery. Mishra’s accuracy and control with the googly once again paid off. On the final ball of the over, he bowled Ashok Dinda, completing a sensational hat-trick, his third in IPL history, making him the first and only bowler at the time to achieve that feat.
This devastating spell meant that Pune Warriors were bowled out for 108 in 19 overs, falling short by 11 runs. Mishra finished with figures of 4/19 in 4 overs, including four wickets in five balls, a performance that not only earned him the Player of the Match award but also a permanent place in IPL history.
Mishra’s hat-trick was a masterclass in classical leg-spin bowling. He relied on flight, subtle variations in pace, and wickedly turning googlies to outsmart the batters under pressure. In the bowling department, he was well-supported by Thisara Perera, who picked up 3 wickets for just 20 runs in his four overs, including early breakthroughs of Uthappa and Finch. Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn also chipped in with a wicket each, but the night undoubtedly belonged to Mishra.
In the IPL, hat-tricks have often made the game interesting for the fans, creating unforgettable moments and turning points. Over the years, several bowlers have achieved this rare feat, showcasing their ability to change the game’s momentum in a single over. The first-ever hat-trick came in 2008 when Lakshmipathy Balaji dismantled KXIP’s lower order in Chennai.
The same season, Amit Mishra struck for Delhi Daredevils, claiming his victims with flight and turn, while Makhaya Ntini surprised Kolkata with pace. In 2009, Yuvraj Singh stole the show with two hat-tricks, one against RCB (including Kallis and Boucher) and another against DC, dismissing big hitters like Gibbs and Symonds. Rohit Sharma, then with Deccan Chargers, shocked MI with a surprise spell in Centurion, removing three key players, including Harbhajan and Duminy.
| Player | Match | Venue | Victims | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakshmipathy Balaji (CSK) | CSK vs KXIP | Chennai | IK Pathan, PP Chawla, VRV Singh | 2008 |
| Amit Mishra (DD) | DC vs DD | Delhi | Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh | 2008 |
| Makhaya Ntini (CSK) | CSK vs KKR | Kolkata | Saurav Ganguly, Debabrata Das, David Hussey | 2008 |
| Yuvraj Singh (KXIP) | KXIP vs RCB | Durban | Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher | 2009 |
| Rohit Sharma (DC) | DC vs MI | Centurion | Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, JP Duminy | 2009 |
| Yuvraj Singh (KXIP) | KXIP vs DC | Johannesburg | Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Venugopal Rao | 2009 |
| Praveen Kumar (RCB) | RCB vs RR | Bangalore | Damien Martyn, Sumit Narwal, Paras Dogra | 2010 |
| Amit Mishra (DC) | KXIP vs DC | Dharamsala | Ryan McLaren, Mandeep Singh, Ryan Harris | 2011 |
| Ajit Chandila (RR) | RR vs PW | Jaipur | Jesse Ryder, Saurav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa | 2012 |
| Sunil Narine (KKR) | KKR vs KXIP | Mohali | David Hussey, Azhar Mahmood, Gurkeerat Singh | 2013 |
| Amit Mishra (SRH) | SRH vs PW | Pune | Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Ashok Dinda | 2013 |
| Pravin Tambe (RR) | RR vs KKR | Ahmedabad | Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate | 2014 |
| Shane Watson (RR) | RR vs SRH | Ahmedabad | Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Karn Sharma | 2014 |
| Axar Patel (PBKS) | GL vs KXIP | Rajkot | Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja | 2016 |
| Samuel Badree (RCB) | RCB vs MI | Bangalore | Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan, Rohit Sharma | 2017 |
| Andrew Tye (GL) | GL vs RPS | Rajkot | Ankit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Shardul Thakur | 2017 |
| Jaydev Unadkat (RPS) | KXIP vs DC | Punjab | Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Sandeep Lamichhane | 2019 |
| Shreyas Gopal (RR) | RCB vs RR | Bangalore | Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis | 2019 |
| Harshal Patel (RCB) | RCB vs MI | Dubai | Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Rahul Chahar | 2021 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) | RR vs KKR | Mumbai | Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins | 2022 |
| Rashid Khan (GT) | GT vs KKR | Ahmedabad | Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur | 2023 |
Praveen Kumar and Amit Mishra followed up with strong spells in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Mishra, the only bowler with three IPL hat-tricks, struck again in 2013 for SRH, showing his mastery across teams and conditions. In 2012, Ajit Chandila, a lesser-known off-spinner, stunned Pune Warriors with a triple blow, including Ganguly and Uthappa. Sunil Narine and Pravin Tambe continued the trend in 2013 and 2014, while Shane Watson’s hat-trick in 2014 was a rare instance from a seam-bowling all-rounder. Axar Patel delivered a memorable performance in 2016 against the Gujarat Lions, removing three of their most experienced batsmen.
The 2017 season saw two hat-tricks, from Badree and Andrew Tye, both in Rajkot, while Unadkat’s spell in 2019 was crucial for RPS. That same year, Shreyas Gopal delivered perhaps the most iconic hat-trick, dismissing Kohli, ABD, and Stoinis in one go. In 2021, Harshal Patel broke MI’s back in Dubai, and in 2022, Chahal claimed a hat-trick in a thrilling contest against KKR. The latest addition came in 2023, when Rashid Khan removed Russell, Narine, and Thakur in Ahmedabad, continuing the tradition of game-changing spells.