Follow UsIt was a memorable day for Pakistan off-spinner Usman Tariq in Rawalpindi on November 23 (Sunday). In a crucial match in the tri-series, Tariq picked up a hat-trick in just his second T20I for his country to finish with figures of 4/18.
His first wicket was of Tony Munyonga, who swept one straight into the hands of short fine-leg. He then cleaned up Tashinga Musekiwa and then Wellington Masakadza holed out at long-on to allow Tariq to complete a hat-trick.
Tariq therefore became only the fourth Pakistan bowler to take a hat-trick in T20Is after Faheem Ashraf (2017), Mohammad Hasnain (2019) and Mohammad Nawaz (2025). Overall, this is the sixth hat-trick in the shortest format this year.
In his two matches in T20Is so far, the 27-year-old has picked up six wickets at 7.33, along with an economy rate of 5.50.
Only two other bowlers have picked up a hat-trick in fewer matches than Tariq. Australia's Nathan Ellis (2021) and Kuwait's Shahrukh Quddus (2022) did so on their T20I debuts.
Coming back to the match, Pakistan won the game comfortably by 69 runs, after bowling Zimbabwe out for just 126, despite an unbeaten 67 from Ryan Burl. For Pakistan, Babar Azam top-scored with 74, while Sahibzada Farhan slammed 63 as Pakistan assured themselves of a place in the final.