Australian paceman James Pattinson found himself on a hat-trick as he ripped through the Hobart Hurricanes’ top order in the Melbourne Rebels’ 51-run Big Bash League win at Bellerive.
Recalled to Australia’s one-day squad this week, Pattinson continued his impressive return from a back injury by removing former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik (1 from 5) and Englishman Owais Shah (0 from 1) with successive deliveries in the third over.
Twenty-three-year-old Pattinson, who played 12 Tests before breaking down during the away Ashes series, clocked more than 140km/h in an impressive four-over performance that yielded the brilliant figures of 4-24.
His early spell left the Hurricanes 3-10 in reply to the Renegades’ 8-162, a position the home side couldn’t recover from.
They eventually crashed to be all out for 111, skipper Tim Paine top-scoring with 31 from 28 and Muttiah Muralidaran taking 2-15.
Contrasting with Pattinson, Hurricanes former Test paceman Ben Hilfenhaus continued to struggle, finishing with 0-43 from his four overs.
Instead it was miserly Australian representative Ben Laughlin who spearheaded a Hurricanes comeback with the ball, taking a superb 3-16 from his four overs.
The Renegades had been 0-93 in the 10th over, with in-form Aaron Finch (50 from 31) and opening partner Michael Hill (40 from 29) showing the way.
The visitors made just 67 in their second 10 overs as wickets fell regularly.
For golden-duck maker Shah it was a day to forget, after he also came up with one of the worst dropped catches in recent memory, a dolly to short cover off Tom Cooper.