While Craig's hat-trick wasn't recognised at the time due to a chaotic last over and the first wicket in the set of three coming overs beforehand — fans at the ground didn't make the same mistake twice with Matt Jaensch.
The Panthers skipper, though, wasn't fazed by the milestone itself.
“Hat-tricks are never planned, but you know in the last over they're going to go,” Jaensch said.
“They needed 11 off the last over, if you hit that length they have to invent something.
“It was good to get (a hat-trick), but as long as we won I didn't really care."
The Panthers’ final five overs with ball in hand rewrote the script, and Jaensch was thrilled to see people who'd written off their chances be proven wrong.
“Once again we were in a position where we really shouldn't have won the game, but once again we fought back with the bat, we were aiming for 150,” he said.
“We had to grind our way to 136, for us to get to that was good, it was a bit under par and the way we started with the ball was a bit disappointing, but jeez what a game, what a win.”
He was full of praise for international import Scott Edwards, who took two difficult catches as part of the hat-trick, but said it just happened as part of a crazy final over.
“There's not much to talk about, I just needed to bowl as full as possible and I try to hit the crease every time,” Jaensch said.
“The worst ball was the last one which they had to hit for six.
“(Edwards) did a good job, wicketkeepers are best when you don't notice them, he was really clean and really good.”
He said the spectacle — two close games back-to-back — was great for the competition, with all four teams now with a win and a loss heading into the final round on January 31.
“It was just a really good game of cricket, really good for everyone involved. We had two crackers in a row and it's fantastic,” Jaensch said.
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