Watch: Mohammad Abbas bowled Alastair Cook with a beauty in the County Championship today (September 19), zipping the ball past his outside edge and taking out his off stump.
Essex begin their important game against Hampshire at Chelmsford in their bid to win Division One of the Championship. Rain delayed the start of most matches on the first day of the penultimate round of the competition, so a win against Hampshire could see Essex continue their title challenge and Surrey progress to the final.
However, their hopes were dashed as Cook opted to go first in the second over of the game and succumbed to Abbas’ third ball of the morning.
Amid gray skies and windy conditions, Abbas bowled around the wicket to the left-handed former England captain. He shot the ball and Cook tried to defend. But he played on the wrong line and his bat stayed inside the ball, causing it to ricochet over the outside edge and onto the off-stump.
The ball didn’t have much impact either from the surface or from the air. The ball may have gone straight, but you just touched it. It was the angle created by Abbas and the line down the play that caused Cook to lose his wicket. This is the perfect delivery for left-handed people. Abbas has become Hampshire’s leading wicket-taker in this year’s County Championship, with him taking 45 wickets in 13 matches.
Essex were 0-1 after Cook’s dismissal, but fell to 18-2 within the first 10 overs of the match when Nick Brown was caught by Keith Barker.
Watch: Mohammad Abbas bowls Alastair Cook below
Wow. Mohammad Abbas bowls Sir Alastair Cook with an absolute jaffa!#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/ZkY8ZzlVh1
– LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) 19. September 2023
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