Mohammed Siraj gave India the perfect start in the Asia Cup final, taking five wickets in 16 balls and bringing up several notable feats in the process.
Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Kusal Perera on the third ball of the match, but from then on it was all Siraj’s problem. His first over was a first, but even though he didn’t get a wicket, there were signs of an imminent threat. Siraj hit Kusal Mendis four times, but the Sri Lankan number three could not even touch the ball with his bat.
With plenty of new ball movement on offer, Siraj’s next over (which included 4 wickets) broke the dam. It was Pathum Nissanka who took the lead first, cutting a drive to where Ravindra Jadeja took a deft low catch. Two balls later, Siraj batted again and pinned Sadheera Samarawickrama LBW, but the reverse could not save the Sri Lankan batsman. Charice Asaranka chipped the next ball to cover, giving Siraj a hat-trick. The hat-trick ball was pushed into the ground for four, but Siraj chased the ball to the boundary, much to the delight of Virat Kohli. Slip – Dhananjaya snapped. A final overback and a horror start for Sri Lanka ensued.
Bumrah scored the opening goal against Mendis and supported Siraj. He scored his second goal of the match. Then Siraj scored again. He struck Dasun Shanaka four times in four balls, the last one being uprooted off the stumps. At that point his record was 5-4 from 16 balls, with Sri Lanka 12-6.
Cricket statisticians quickly set to work investigating where Siraj’s performances rank in various all-time lists. From the start of the spell for which such data is available till the fall of the fifth wicket, he turned out to be the fastest five in ODIs. He canceled out his 16-ball 5-fer of Chamin Davas against Bangladesh in the 2003 World Cup.
Taking four wickets in one over is not that rare a feat as four bowlers have achieved it in ODIs in the last two decades. Others who have done so are Vaas in the five-a-side against Bangladesh this time, Mohammad Sami against New Zealand in 2003 and Adil Rashid against West Indies in 2019.
Shiraj finished the match with a score of 6-21, his second 6-0 in the Asian Cup. Strangely, the other six matches also happened in the final between India and Sri Lanka, with Ajantha Mendis winning 6-13 in the 2008 showpiece showdown. Siraj’s ODI is his fourth in India after Burma’s 6-19 against England last year, Anil Kumble’s 6-12 against West Indies in 1993 and Stuart Binney’s 6-4 against Bangladesh in 2014. This is the second best ODI figure.
Sri Lanka failed with 50 all outs, the lowest ODI total of all teams against India.
