Imran Tahir becomes fourth South African to scalp ODI hat-trick as Proteas seal series against Zimbabwe

Tahir scalped the wickets of Sean Williams on the last delivery of the 18th over and then removed Peter Moor and Brandon Mavuta on the first two deliveries of the 20th over to complete his hat-trick.

South Africa tweaker Imran Tahir spun a web around the Zimbabwean batting line-up as he scalped a sensational hat-trick during the second ODI between the two teams at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, on Wednesday.

Imran Tahir celebrates after taking a hat-trick against Zimbabwe (ICC/ Twitter)

Hat-trick hero Tahir (6/24) and Dale Steyn (60 off 85 deliveries) were the stars of the show for the hosts as the Proteas registered an emphatic 120-run win over Zimbabwe and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Tahir scalped the wickets of Sean Williams on the last delivery of the 18th over and then removed Peter Moor and Brandon Mavuta on the first two deliveries of the 20th over to complete his hat-trick.

Tahir became only the fourth South African cricketer to scalp an ODI hat-trick after of Charl Langeveldt, JP Duminy and Kagiso Rabada.

2005 - Charl Langeveldt vs West Indies (Barbados)

2015 – JP Duminy vs Sri Lanka (Sydney)

2015 – Kagiso Rabada vs Bangladesh (Mirpur)

2018 - Imran Tahir vs Zimbabwe (Bloemfontein)

After hitting his maiden ODI fifty, Steyn came back to pick two early wickets to peg back the visitors right from the word go. But it was all Tahir in the middle overs as he ended the match with stunning figures of 6/24 in six overs to bundle out Zimbabwe for a paltry 78.

This was the 39-year-old’s third five-wicket haul in the 50-over format and he also managed to pick four wickets in six deliveries to dismiss Zimbabwe in just the 24th over of the game.