India pacer produced a clinic in Raipur as they shared seven wickets between them to bowl out New Zealand for a mere 108 in the second ODI to set up a big eight-wicket win on Saturday. Star of the bowling display though was Mohammed Shami whose red-hot show with the new ball put India in the driving seat from the first over itself.
Opening the attack, Shami got rid of New Zealand opener Finn Allen for a five-ball duck with a brilliant inswinger. And then he got rid of Daryl Mitchell by taking an impressive catch on his follow through.
His first spell lasted four overs including a maiden as he picked up two wickets and conceded just five runs in them.
Midway through the 11th over, the Kiwis was left in deep trouble at 15/5 with Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur also chipping in.
Shami finished with figures of 3/18 from six overs and was chosen player-of-the-match for his superb show.
“At the start, I always try to focus on bowling the right line and length," Shami said during the post-match presentation. “Sometimes you may not get wickets even after bowling well and some time, you get wickets even when the rhythm isn’t there. Shouldn’t mind that."
When asked how he manages to be so consistent, he replied, “I believe in repetition. The more you love something, it becomes yours."
He also expressed his delight at bowling with an upright seam and revealed he gets irritated whenever he fails to do it.
“I never thought I will have such a proper seam position but I do get irritated whenever it doesn’t come off. I always try for it, doesn’t matter how the wicket is. I enjoy watching the (upright) seam in air," he said.
Being the seniormost pacer in the side now, Shami says he has the responsibility to assess the conditions and pass on the message to his teammates.
“When you start the game, you don’t know about how the wicket will behave. Once you are through bowling the first over, you should pass the message to fellow bowlers. That will benefit the team," he said.
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