Ruben Loftus-Cheek fired Chelsea into the lead inside two minutes to set them on course for a big victory. The English midfielder added his second of the evening just minutes later to put Chelsea in cruise control and An error from goalkeeper Denis Scherbitski sealed Loftus-Cheek's first hat-trick for the club in the second half. Aleksey Rios pulled one back for the visitors late on but Chelsea were already on their way to the three points.
This, surely, can not go on. As Ruben Loftus-Cheek offered a timely reminder of his potential, one glaring statistic stood out. This talented young footballer has still played more minutes for England this season than he has for Chelsea in the Premier League.
His lot for England is not so much shout about this season, either. Just the 61 minutes, in the least important game of the campaign, the friendly win over Switzerland. In the Premier League, it is almost half that amount, with a combined 33 minutes against modest opponents in Bournemouth and Huddersfield. Most remarkably, 922 days and two managers have now passed since Loftus-Cheek last started a Premier League match for Chelsea.
As meek as BATE Borisov may be, a starting place therefore represented dizzy heights for Loftus-Cheek in a Chelsea shirt.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek looks delighted as he puts Chelsea into the lead against Bate Borisov within the opening two minutes
The English midfielder fired emphatically into the BATE Borisov goal to give Chelsea an early lead in the Europa League game
Loftus-Cheek got the final touch on the ball to double Chelsea's advantage inside 10 minutes and set them on course to a win
Loftus-Cheek curls in his third goal of the evening to complete his hat-trick and put Chelsea three goals in front of their rivals
Loftus-Cheek raises his arms towards the crowd as he completes his hat-trick and gives Chelsea a three-goal lead
Loftus-Cheek is congratulated by his Chelsea team-mates after scoring completing his hat-trick on Thursday night
Andreas Christensen (right) hands Loftus-Cheek the match ball at full-time in recognition of the midfielder's hat-trick
As auditions go, it was blistering. By scoring a hat-trick, he joined club legends Didier Drogba, Gianluca Vialli, Tommy Baldwin, Peter Osgood and Terry Venables as only the sixth player to score a hat-trick in European competition for Chelsea.
Yet afterwards, Sarri admitted Loftus-Cheek retains an uphill battle for a place and demanded improvement.
'In the offensive phase - wonderful,' Sarri said, 'But he needs to improve defensive phase. I can only play only 11 players. Maybe I can ask to play 16. I know the fans love him and he was in the academy. But my problem remains the same. I have four midfielders for two positions.'
Loftus-Cheek's first contribution was most memorable for passing a ball out of play and Sarri shaking his head.
Thankfully matters improved and by the hour mark, Chelsea supporters were singing 'Loftus-Cheek, he's one of our own' and the support were further encouraged when Callum Hudson-Odoi, an U-17 England World Cup winner, arrived for the final half-hour.
With minutes at a premium, Loftus-Cheek was not messing about. His first came inside 103 seconds as he timed a run to meet Davide Zappacosta's low cross and fire Chelsea in front. If his first showcased his technical poise, the second, on eight minutes, underlined his strength as he held off his marker and hooked Willian's corner into the goal.
Loftus-Cheek, who may have earned a penalty when pushed to the ground by Stanislaw Dragun in the second-half, sealed his hat-trick when a curling right-footed strike from distance passed through the grasp of goalkeeper.
Rios (with the ball) runs back to the centre of the pitch as they rush to restart after pulling a goal back on Thursday night
His was a rampant, dominant performance and he may have had a fourth when he galloped onwards beyond the Bate defence and forced a fine stop from the goalkeeper.
'My first hat-trick since youth teams,' Loftus-Cheek grinned. 'I'll get this ball signed and put it in a glass box. I keep sharp for the times when I do come on or get an opportunity.'
If not food for thought, it may at least leave manager Maurizio Sarri with more cigarette butts to chew as he plots the future. But Loftus-Cheek, now 22, is surely reaching a critical point where he must be handed a run or look elsewhere for his football.
The positives were spread throughout a Chelsea side that featured eight changes from the draw against Manchester United. There was a clue, too, for Sunday's trip to Burnley, as Ross Barkley, who scored against United, was rested and Mateo Kovacic started.
The floodlights at Stamford Bridge sparkle in the night sky as Chelsea winger Willian fires in a corner kick during the first half
Former Chelsea midfielder and current Derby County manager Frank Lampard (left) watches the tie from the executive boxes
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Arrizabalaga 6; Zappacosta 7, Christensen 6, Cahill 6, Emerson 6, Loftus-Cheek 8, Fabregas 7.5, Kovacic 6 (Kante 77); Willian 7 (Moses 57, 6), Giroud 6, Pedro 6.5 (Hudson-Odoi 60, 6).
Subs not used: Caballero, Rudiger, Barkley, Morata.
Goals: Loftus-Cheek 2, 8, 54
Manager: Maurizio Sarri 7
BATE BORISOV (4-3-3): Scherbitski 6; Rios 6, Filipovic 5, Filipenko 5, Volodko 5.5; Baga 5 (Yablonski 76), Dragun 5.5, Hleb 6 (Ivanic 59, 6); Skavysh 6, Signevich 5.5 (Tuominen 71, 5.5), Stasevich 6.
Subs not used: Berezkin, Volkov, Chickan, Moukam.
Goals: Rios 80
Bookings: Hleb
Manager: Alyaksey Baha 5
Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni (Italy) 6
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