Gus Atkinson. (Photo Source: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Gus Atkinson became the 14th England player to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. In the second Test against New Zealand at Wellington, the pacer clinched the wicket of Nathan Smith, Matt Henry and Tim Southee to achieve the feat. He picked up four wickets in the first innings and one more in the second as England won the game by 323 runs.
After the match, Atkinson opened up on his hat-trick against the Kiwis. The 26-year-old stated that he doesn’t think much about his achievements and wasn’t thinking too much before bowling to Tim Southee to complete his hat-trick. However, the cricketer revealed that he was confident and was running in with the hope of picking up the wicket to complete the hat-trick.
“Yeah, it was great it’s not something that, you know as a bowler, you sort of think about 5-fers and 10-fers and those sort of things. So, you know, to get a hat trick. I wasn’t really thinking about it too much at all. But then obviously, there’s not many chances when you’re on two wickets and two balls. So and I felt pretty confident. You know, as I was running in on that third ball that I had a good chance of getting it there,” said Atkinson in the post-day press conference.
Check Out – WATCH: Tim Southee falls for England’s bluff as Gus Atkinson grabs hat-trick in Wellington
Notably, Atkinson has been spectacular since his debut for England in July this year. The pacer has played 10 Test matches and picked up 48 wickets at an average of 22.29. He reflected on being more greedy and added that he wants to record more milestones to help the team win more Test matches in the future.
“On Test debut, I had two in two and I felt confident then, but didn’t quite go my way. But no, I took one for school once in 2015. So that was my last one. But, you know, you always wanna get more and be greedy and take as many as you can. And that’s something I’m gonna try to do in the future. And, yeah, obviously, it’s been a great year for me personally, and, hopefully, I can get a few more milestones and help the team,” he added.
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