Gaul: A delivery from Pakistan spinner Yasir Shah took Sri Lanka’s top-order batsman Kusal Mendis by surprise on the third day of the first Test on Monday. Will he be called ‘Ball of the Century’? Many compared the ball to a magical delivery from Australian spin wizard Shane Warne to Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993. Warne is no more in the world.
While Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’ was bowled in the twentieth century, Shah, the 36-year-old veteran Pakistan spinner, has done the same thing in the 21st century with his amazing leg-spin delivery. Shah clean bowled right-hander Mendis on the score of 76 runs.
Like Warne’s delivery in Manchester 29 years ago, Shah’s delivery pitched outside the leg-stump and then turned sharply and blew Mendis off-stump. According to the ICC, the commentators immediately started comparing Shah’s ball with Warne’s ball that dismissed Gatting.
Warne’s scintillating delivery was a rare one in itself, but Yasir certainly got close to it. Sri Lanka took a 341-run lead against Pakistan on the fourth day of the opening Test in Galle. The hosts are batting at 337/9 in the second innings, with Dinesh Chandimal unbeaten on 94.
Source link