Sam Curran toasts ‘special’ moment of hat-trick in England’s win over Sri Lanka
Curran joined Chris Jordan in 2024 as an England T20 hat-trick taker.
Sam Curran toasted a “special” night after he claimed England’s second ever T20 hat-trick in victory over Sri Lanka.
Curran joined Chris Jordan in 2024 as an England T20 hat-trick taker as he blew away Sri Lanka’s lower-order to help limit the hosts to 133 all out.
It was a brilliant recovery from the left-armer after his first two overs had been crashed for 35 and he was thrilled with the way he was able to bounce back.
“Pretty cool to say I’ve got a hat-trick but a weird night personally after getting a bit of tap in the first couple of overs!” Curran said.
“T20 is such an up and down thing. A fantastic win, we take a lot of confidence from our first T20 win.
“Really special, at the top of my mark Jos (Buttler) told me to come round the wicket. One of those where you aim for the stumps and hope he missed and thankfully he did.
“The way the night started I would have taken any wicket or dot ball! Loads of excitement as you let go and see the stumps light up and it makes the night that bit sweeter.”
Adil Rashid had earlier bamboozled the Sri Lankan batters in Kandy as he claimed three for 19 from his four overs in a stunning display which decimated the hosts’ innings.
“Adil has been such a star player for us for so long,” Curran added. “We are really hoping he can play a big part for us in the next few weeks which is really exciting for us.”
Phil Salt made the most of two lives to lead England’s chase with 46 before rain brought an early end to proceedings with England on 125 for four – with the tourists winning by 11 on the DLS method.
Victory puts England 1-0 up in the three-match series, with two more matches at the same venue before they travel to Mumbai to face Nepal in their T20 World Cup opener on February 8.
If England progress, as they should, from their group containing West Indies, Scotland, Nepal and Italy, their Super 8 matches will be held in Sri Lanka – both here in Kandy and in Colombo where they clinched the ODI series earlier this week.
“Winning is a confidence boost and a habit and I guess we are hoping to keep doing that leading into the World Cup,” Curran added.
“It’s a really important series for us playing in similar conditions to the World Cup.
“We know how exciting the next few weeks are, we want to do the country proud. Hopefully we will be as ready as we can.”
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