Asia Cup 2023: Mohammed Siraj took six wickets in the India vs Sri Lanka final.© AFP
Mohammed Siraj was close to perfection in the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka. Under overcast conditions in Colombo, the Indian cricket team pacer breathed fire as he mercilessly ripped apart Sri Lanka’s top order in the title clash on Sunday. Courtesy Siraj’s dream opening spell, India ripped apart Sri Lanka for 50 in the Asia Cup 2023 final. Over the years, there have been some outstanding fast bowlers in Indian cricket, and the team’s performance in the limited-overs format has been greatly influenced by their abilities.
Several records were broken in the last 90 minutes as Siraj finished with 6 wickets to his name. Four of those wickets came in one over, and that’s where he sealed the fate of the match.
Describing Siraj’s feat, leading industrialist Anand Mahindra had a special praise. “I don’t think I have EVER before felt my heart weep for our opponents….It’s as if we have unleashed a supernatural force upon them…@mdsirajofficial you are a Marvel Avenger…” Mahindra tweeted.
In reply to that post, a Twitter user wrote: “Sir please give him a suv”
Mahindra then wrote: “Been there, done that…”. Mahindra had gifted Suraj a ‘Thar’ in 2021.
Siraj, a rising star who gave an incredible performance against Sri Lanka in the 2023 Asia Cup Finals, is at the top of this elite ranking. India star pacer pulled football legend Cristiano Ronaldo’s trademark ‘Siuuu’ celebration after bagging his five-wicket haul in the final.
After bowling a maiden over, Siraj struck four times in the single over to leave Sri Lanka wobbling at 12/5 after the end of the 4th over.
He had Pathum Nissanka caught at point off the very first ball of the over. He followed it up with the wickets of Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka off the third and fourth balls of the over respectively. Samarawickrama was trapped lbw, while Asalanka was caught in the covers.
Off the final delivery, he had Dhananjaya de Silva caught behind. He followed up this magical over with another wicket. He cleaned up Shanaka in his very next over. Within 16 balls ‘Miyan Magic’ completed his fifer.
With this, he completed a five-for off merely 16 balls. This equals the world record for the quickest five-for (ever since ball-by-ball data became available). He shares this with Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas, who had picked five wickets against Bangladesh off merely 16 balls in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2003.
Siraj became the second bowler in the Asia Cup 50-over format to take a 6-wicket haul after Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis bagged the figure of 6/13 against India in 2008.
Indian speedster Siraj tore apart Sri Lanka’s batting line-up with a dream spell to end the first innings in 15.2 overs in the Asia Cup 2023 final at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
With ANI inputs
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