Hat-trick boy Campher - “Maybe it will set in a little bit later”

Ireland's Curtis Campher, on Monday (October 18), etched his name in the history books by becoming only the third player to pick up four wickets in four deliveries in the shortest format of the game. The 22-year-old also became the second bowler after Brett Lee to take a hat-trick in the T20 World Cup. With those four crucial wickets, the allrounder turned the game in Ireland's favour as they defeated Netherlands by seven wickets in their first game of the 2021 T20 World Cup. 

The South Africa-born seamer was smashed for 12 runs in his first over but made a stunning comeback in his second over, getting rid of Colin Ackermann, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards and Roelof van der Merwe to reduce Netherlands to 52/6. The Men in Orange could never recover from that and ended up getting knocked over for 106, which Ireland chased it down with 29 deliveries to spare.

"To be honest, I wasn't really thinking about it (emulating Malinga and Rashid). Maybe it will set in a little bit later, but I'm just trying to do what I want to do - when Tendo walked in we knew we had to go straight to him and that worked and then just carried on to Edwards too. Both those [attacking the stumps] were plans worked out from the analyst and that kind of fit into my game, so maybe in a few hours or a few days, it might rub off. But to be honest I'm just happy with the win and that's all that matters," Campher said at the post-match press conference.

After dismissing Ackermann and ten Doeschate, Campher pinned Edwards right in front of the stumps to complete his feat. So, what was going through his mind before the hat-trick ball? “My heart was racing quite high, but I just took a few deep breaths at the top of my run and just tried to make sure I manage my skills. Obviously, I didn't really finish the last over as well as I wanted to, but I'm learning and I'm young. I'm just trying to do the best that I can,” he recalled.

Campher also found good support from Mark Adair and Josh Little (1/14). The two seamers were phenomenal in the powerplay and hardly gave away anything in their first spell. Adair, in particular, finished with figures of 3 for 9 - the second-most economical four-over spell for Ireland in T20Is.

"Personally for me, it (four in four) gave us a lot of momentum. As a bowling unit when you have three guys going under six, it makes a big difference. As far as a bowling unit, we're really good I think. On another day, I can go for 10s and 12s, but the pressure that the guys built there managed to make me get the wickets. So, listened to Mark Adair, Josh (Little), Simi (Singh), and Whitey (Ben White), we hunted as a unit and I was actually lucky to get the results." 

Campher has suffered multiple injuries ever since making his international debut in 2020 and the allrounder is now just happy to be back in action. “I might sound like a broken record, but right now I'm just really enjoying my cricket. I'm just happy to be on the park and have this opportunity. I think people take for granted if you play for a long time. When I got injured - obviously no one should have injuries - but to bounce back and actually just start enjoying my cricket, just grateful to be out there, whether I get hit for 60 or 70 or don't score a run, I'm just happy to be out there and playing for my country."