India pacer Mohammed Siraj bowled one of the best-ever ODI spells which will be remembered for a long time in the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka on Monday in Colombo.
Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bat first.
While everyone was expecting the spinners on both sides to dominate, the Indian pacers bowled Sri Lanka out for a low total of only 50 runs. That was because of the brief shower before the start of the match that delayed the game by 40 minutes. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Hardik Pandya used the moisture in the surface and the cloudy conditions to rattle the Lankan batters and stun the capacity crowd at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
Bowling 7 overs on a trot, Siraj ended with figures of 7-1-21-6 and produced an outstanding display of swing and seam movement bowling, which included 4 wickets in one over, only the third instance of such an event in ODI cricket for which ball-by-ball data is available.
Siraj completed his five-wicket haul in only 16 balls. This is the joint-fastest five-wicket haul in ODI history, equalling the 16-ball record set by former Sri Lanka pacer Chaminda Vaas vs Bangladesh in 2003.
Mohammed Siraj’s figures of 6/21 are now the 4th best ODI bowling figures by an Indian bowler. Siraj duly bagged the Player of the Match award for his heroics with the ball in the final.
After the game, Mohammed Siraj was snapped speaking with the BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, who is also the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
Fans created funny memes and tweets on the photo of Mohammed Siraj and Jay Shah:
List of best bowling ODI figures for India:
6/4 – Stuart Binny vs Bangladesh Mirpur 2014
6/12 – Anil Kumble vs West Indies Kolkata 1993
6/19 – Jasprit Bumrah vs England The Oval 2022
6/21 – Mohd Siraj vs Sri Lanka Colombo RPS 2023
6/23 – Ashish Nehra vs England, Durban 2003
Speaking about his bowling performance, Siraj said “Feels like a dream. Last time I did the same against Sri Lanka at Trivandrum. Got four wickets early, couldn’t get the five-for. Realised you get what’s in your destiny. Did not try too much today. I have always looked for swing in white-ball cricket. Did not find much in the previous games. But today it was swinging, and I got more wickets with the outswinger. Wanted to make the batters drive.”
