England National Cricket Team off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, 20, dismantled the stumps of Sri Lanka National Cricket Team bottom spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, 32, in the second Test of the three-match series at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London on Friday, August 30.
Bashir has emerged as the first-choice bowler for the English team in the Bazball era and has received huge backing from his captain, Ben Stokes, who is currently out of action due to injury. Shoaib Bashir has also reciprocated his captain’s trust by chipping in with crucial wickets for the team and making a significant contribution to the victories.
He had a good performance in the opening clash of the series against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford in Manchester as he recorded bowling figures of 3/55 in the first innings before going wicketless in the second innings (0/77).
Meanwhile, at the Lord’s Test, Shoaib Bashir picked up his first wicket in the 44th over of the match. On the last ball of the over, Bashir bowled a delivery of 82 km/h to Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan player came down the track to play the shot, missed the delivery completely and the ball turned sharply to hit the inside edge and the top of the leg stump.
Prabath Jayasuriya was dismissed by the England national cricket team’s bowler for 8 runs in 46 balls. And his dismissal left Sri Lanka in trouble at 153/8.
Watch: Shoaib Bashir knocks down Prabath Jayasuriya’s stumps
Brilliant Bash 🔥 pic.twitter.com/k3qOjaYVVC
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 30, 2024
That’s just beautiful bowling: Michael Vaughan praises Shoaib Bashir
Bashir’s delivery to dismiss Jayasuriya impressed former England captain Michael Vaughan a lot, who, speaking on the BBC Test Match Special programme, said that the youngster has been bowling beautifully.
“It’s a beautiful delivery. It’s a little bit slower, a little bit quicker and it goes across the wicket. Shoaib Bashir must have seen an indication that Jayasuriya was coming towards him.
“He wasn’t scoring, but he was doing his job, holding one end for Kamindu Mendis. It’s infuriating for the ‘in’ batsman to see a shot like that.”
Michael Vaughan opined that the pitch helping the bowlers would worry Sri Lanka as they are still way behind England’s first innings score of 427. He said:
“There are promising signs for the bowlers. For every ball that turns, the Sri Lankan captain will be thinking: Oh my God!”
Michael Vaughan also said that the Three Lions would have been in huge trouble if they had been the last to bat on the field, considering the amount of assistance the bowlers have received as the match progressed. He also praised Ollie Pope’s captaincy in the game.
“There is enough for the bowler, and that brings me back to the toss. If England had to bat last on this pitch, Prabath Jayasuriya would have been in the match,” he said, as quoted by the BBC.
“The bowlers have been tremendous and Ollie Pope has handled his pieces brilliantly. The two wickets caught at leg slip were a great tactic.”