Amit Mishra, who spun Hyderabad Sunrisers to an unlikely 11-run win over Pune Warriors, is only buoyed by challenges. “I always try to be an aggressive leg spinner,’’ said the 30-year-old Sunrisers Hyderabad spinner, who became the first bowler in IPL to notch up hat-trick thrice in the tournament. He first achieved it in 2008 for Delhi Daredevils and, ironically, it came against Hyderabad’s then franchise Deccan Chargers.
Moving over to Deccan Chargers in 2011, the little leg spinner with a big heart, took his second hat-trick against Kings XI Punjab in the same year. And today, Mishra stole the show with a terrific fourth over when he scalped four wickets against Pune Warriors to script a stunning 11-run win over at Pune.
Bowling the 19th over, with Pune needing 14 runs from 12 deliveries, Mishra removed skipper Angelo Mathews with his second ball, caught in the deep. The leg spinner conceded a single to Manish Pandey in the third ball. But with the fourth, fifth and sixth deliveries, Mishra dismissed Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (lbw), Rahul Sharma and last man Ashoke Dinda (both bowled). He got all the four wickets in his last over to finish with a stunning figures of 4-0-19-4.
He delivered with the bat, too. Coming in when Sunrisers slipped to 44 for 6, the little all-rounder struck 30 from 24 deliveries to richly deserve the man of the match award. Through the IPL, he has been in terrific form with the ball, and has already taken nine wickets from six matches and is only behind Purple Cap holder Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) by one wicket.
Talking about his performance, an unassuming Misra said he kept it simple. “Cam (Cameron White) said to me that I should go for the wickets and I got a hat-trick. It is a great feeling, working together and supporting each other. I am not trying for any more tricks, want to keep it simple,’’ he said after the match.