Sri Lanka was already four down when Mohammed Shami came into the picture. India's new ball pair of Jasprit Bumrah (1/8) and Mohammed Siraj (3/16) had already done the damage. But that didn't stop Shami from joining the party as he plucked five of the six wickets remaining in just 30 balls!
Result -- the seamer, who has played only three games to date, stands as the home side's second most successful wicket taker in ICC ODI World Cup 2023!
Mohammed Shami picked 5 wickets against New Zealand in his first game of the tournmaent before taking four more against England in a low-scoring thriller. He is sixth in the table of the tournament's leading wicket takers -- one short of teammate Jasprit Bumrah, who is at fifth spot and four behind leader Dilshan Madushanka's tally of 18. Interestingly, Bumrah was included in every match India contested in the tournament to date. Shami is almost at par with him, having played four games lesser!
Shami's bowling stats at the 2023 edition of the coveted tournament so far reads as follows:
Average: 6.71
Strike Rate: 9.4
Economy: 4.27
Now that India have sealed a spot in the semifinals, the team will hope that the right-hand speedster will only get fiercer in the days to come.
READ HERE | ODI World Cup: Ruthless India hammer Sri Lanka by 302 runs in Mumbai, seal semi spot
"Yeah, I am trying (to do my best), as always, trying to pitch the ball in the right areas and trying to find the right rhythm. Because in big tournaments, if you lose rhythm it's very difficult to get it back. So right from the start, the attempt has been to focus on the right areas and right lengths, and it's working," ESPNCricInfo quoted him as saying after the match.
India became the first team to qualify for the World Cup semifinals after beating Sri Lanka by a massive 302 runs in Mumbai on Thursday. Kasun Rajitha top-scored for Sri Lanka with 14. Only two other Sri Lanka batters -- Angelo Mathews (12) and Maheesh Theekshana (12 not out) -- could reach double digits.
Earlier, sent in to bat, India amassed 357 for 8.
Virat Kohli (88 off 94 balls), Shubman Gill (92 off 92) and Shreyas Iyer (82 off 56) led India's batting.
Ravindra Jadeja's 35 off 24 balls pushed India past 350.
Left-arm pacer Dilshan Madhushanka was the stand out bowler for Sri Lanka ending with figures of five for 80 in 10 overs.