Slowest hat-trick ever! Australia's Merv Hughes took 3 overs and 2 innings to achieve this feat – Video

New Delhi: Hat-tricks in cricket are very rare. Almost all matches these days would have at least a century being scored but the increasing domination by batsmen has seen a huge decrease in the achievements by bowlers.

One of the rarest hat-tricks took place in Perth in 1988 when the West Indians toured Australia. On the 3rd of December, Aussie seamer Merv Hughes had Curtly Ambrose caught behind with the last ball of his 36th over. He subsequently removed Patrick Patterson with the 1st ball of his next over as West Indies' innings came to an end.

This meant he had taken 2 wickets in 2 balls and was on a hat-trick.

The Australians batted the remaining overs of the day and were bowled out on 4th of December. As West Indies' 2nd innings began, Hughes removed Gordon Greenidge off his first ball with an L.B.W. and hence completed his hat-trick.

He took 8/87 in that innings and finished the Test match with 13 wickets for 217 runs.

The hat-trick was so unusual that Hughes didn't actually realise he'd taken one, and was informed about the achievement later.