The most outstanding bowling display in the history of a World Cup elimination round
Mohammed Shami
7 for 57 against New Zealand in the Mumbai World Cup semifinal
Shami might not have had the record-breaking World Cup he had, starting with a five-for against New Zealand in Dharamsala, if Hardik Pandya’s injury hadn’t occurred. Having played only five games, he had taken 16 wickets by the time India reached the semi-finals.
In Mumbai, the batsmen amassed 397 runs before Shami was brought into the attack in the sixth over. His immediate influence was evident as he got Devon Conway to edge to KL Rahul with his opening ball and then pushed Rachin Ravindra to do the same in the next over. His first spelling was 3-0-15-2. And there was yet a great deal more.
With the chase on and the game on the line, Shami ended Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell’s 181-run partnership by getting Williamson out flicking one to deep square in the opening over of his third stint, the 33rd of New Zealand’s innings. After two balls, he caught Tom Latham by surprise. The twin blow dealt a fatal blow to New Zealand’s chase, and by the time Shami came back to remove Mitchell in the 46th over, it was too late. He then wiped off the tail to go somewhere that no bowler had ever gone in an ODI World Cup quarterfinal game, just for good measure.
Crucial instance
When Shami was brought back into the game, New Zealand was 219 for 2 after 32 overs and needed to reach 179 in 18 overs. 95 runs had been scored in the previous 12 overs, amidst numerous Indian mistakes, such as Shami’s sitter to give Williamson a life. The Wankhede had fallen silent. After India took two wickets in four deliveries, the crowd found its voice again and its mojo returned. They have won their first World Cup knockout match in eight years thanks to Shami.
The quantities
1 The total number of Indians to take seven wickets in one-day internationals; Shami is the first. With a 6 for 4 performance against Bangladesh in 2014, Stuart Binny held the Indian record for greatest ODI stats.
1 Bowlers in an ODI World Cup knockout match who have claimed seven wickets. The last person to take a six-for in a knockout game in the tournament’s history before Shami was Gary Gilmour (6 for 14 against England in the 1975 semi-final).
What they stated
I was holding out for my opportunity. I didn’t play a lot of cricket with white balls. We’ve lost the last two World Cups [in the semi-finals]. We wanted to give this our best effort because we don’t know when or if we’ll get the opportunity again. We were reluctant to let go of our one chance.”
— Mohammed Shami
The closest competitor
Mohammed Siraj, six-for-21 against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final In a stunning display, Colombo Siraj destroyed Sri Lanka, claiming four wickets in his opening over and reaching the joint-fastest five-for in men’s ODI history (16 balls). It was the seventh shortest innings in the history of the format after Sri Lanka was hammered for just 50 in under 16.
