Sikandar Raza becomes the first person from Zimbabwe to pick a T20I hat-trick in a T20 World Cup qualifier.

In Twenty20 International Cricket, veteran player Sikandar Raza became the first person from Zimbabwe to achieve a hat-trick. In the 2023 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier against Rwanda, the all-rounder finished with a hat-trick of wickets, taking out Emile Rukiriza, Muhammad Nadir, and Zappy Bimenyimana. Zimbabwe won the match by 144 runs thanks to his outstanding bat and ball performance, and as a result, they are in the running to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2024.

Sikandar Raza and Tadiwanashe Marumani opened the batting for the squad, and Ryan Burl’s 44 runs enabled the Chevrons to score 215 runs. Rwanda had trouble getting going in the chase. With the new ball, Richard Ngarava was outstanding, and Raza took the final three wickets to give Zimbabwe the victory. They need to do exceptionally well to make it into the major tournament in the USA and the West Indies the following year, since they are now fourth in the points standings behind Namibia, Uganda, and Kenya.

 

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Sikandar Raza was signed by PBKS for the 2024 IPL.

with 2022, Sikandar Raza had an outstanding season at bat and with the bowl, and the Punjab Kings selected him for the 2023 Indian Premier League. Despite being signed by the team at his base salary, the all-rounder was unable to establish himself in the middle. In seven games, he scored 119 runs while taking just three wickets. Raza was given the chance during the first few games while Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone were out, but the cricket player was unable to take advantage of it.

The franchise continued to have faith in the Zimbabwe international in spite of this. There had been discussions about making a few changes to the lineup, but Raza was chosen to stay by the Shikhar Dhawan-led side. A day later, he scored some significant runs and claimed a hat-trick to demonstrate his worth. In order to secure Zimbabwe’s spot in the T20 World Cup and to earn a spot in the PBKS playing XI for the IPL the following year, he must continue to perform well.