Pakistan’s fast bowler Wahab Riaz bowled one of the best spells of fast bowling in the history World Cup cricket in the third quarter final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 at the Adelaide Oval. Wahab Riaz sparked the match into life with two wickets and an enthralling duel with Shane Watson.
Shane Warne called it the best ODI spell he’d seen from a fast bowler in many a year. Michael Clarke said it was “as good as I’ve faced in one-day cricket for a long time”. Kevin Pietersen reckoned it was the best a visiting player had bowled in years on Australian soil.
Wahab, who bowled his heart out, said the dropped catch was the crucial point in the game and Pakistan could have got 1 or 2 more quick wickets.
“Dropped catch was crucial. If we’d taken the catch of Shane Watson we could’ve got 1 or 2 more quick wickets & put pressure on Australia,” Wahab said in an interview with Sky Sports.
“We had our plans according to the opposition and I bowled according to the plan to Shane Watson. I knew that nowadays Watson isn’t that good on the short ball so I had to test him out and attack him. I think it was quite successful but unfortunately we couldn’t win the game,” Wahab added.
Wahab also said that Pakistan missed their leader of the attack and not having Mohammad Irfan in the quarter final was crucial.m
“We missed Irfan he’s one of our main fast bowlers. He leads the attack and not having him in this game was crucial. Unfortunately these things happen and there isn’t much you can do about injuries,” said Wahab.
Wahab, who shared a lot of banter with Shane Watson during the quarter final, said he shook hands with Watson after game.
“I’ve shaken Shane Watson’s hand after the game. What happens on the field stays on the field & it’s just part of the game.”
Years from now, many will look at Wahab’s figures of 9-0-54-2 and say “what’s so special about it?” But those who saw his first spell to Shane Watson will never forget it.
