Jaydev Unadkat picks a hat-trick in the first over of a Ranji Trophy game

Jaydev Unadkat, the Saurashtra captain, created history by picking a hat-trick in the first over of a Group B match against Delhi at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, on Tuesday.

With his hat-trick, Unadkat has become the first player to take a hat-trick in the first over of a match in the history of the Ranji Trophy.

The previous earliest hat-trick was taken by former Karnataka fast bowler Vinay Kumar, who took a hat-trick spread across the first and third over of the match against Mumbai in the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy, 2017-18 season.

After Delhi won the toss and chose to bat first, Unadkat picked up a hat-trick in the first over of the match by dismissing Dhruv Shorey, Vaibhav Rawal, and skipper Yash Dhull off the third, fourth and fifth deliveries.

He then bagged two more wickets of Jonty Sidhu and Lalit Yadav by the end of his second over to complete his 21st five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.

At one point, Delhi were in deep trouble at 5/6 after the end of the first three overs. In the end, Delhi were all out at a below-par score of 133 as Unadkat went on to pick 8/39 from his 12 overs with one maiden.

Last month, 31-year-old Unadkat was the leading wicket-taker during Saurashtra’s run to the Vijay Hazare Trophy title. He picked up 19 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 3.33.

He was also rewarded for his brilliant performance with a India Test recall after 12 years against Bangladesh in Mirpur. He replaced Kuldeep Yadav in the second Test match and picked three wickets as India recorded a 2-0 series win in Bangladesh.

Saurashtra are in their quest to make the knockouts. After three games, they are currently placed third in Group B with 12 points, including one win and two draws. Currently, Mumbai and Maharashtra are placed first and second in Group B.

On the other hand, Delhi are reeling with just 2 points against their name in the ongoing season after a 9-wicket loss against Maharashtra and a draw against Assam and Tamil Nadu.

At stumps on Day 1, Saurashtra are at 184/1 in 46 overs, with wicket-keeper batter Harvik Desai scoring a century and remaining unbeaten on 104(124) along with his partner Chirag Jain who is not out on 44(92).