India's Mohammed Siraj delivers a ball during the Asia Cup final cricket match between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP) Claiming the player of the match award in the 2023 Asia Cup Final for his best ODI bowling figures – 6/21 – Mohammed Siraj dedicated his prize money to the ground staff at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
With torrential rains in the Sri Lankan capital, the ground staff were also awarded by the Asian Cricket Council for their work in putting the games together at the ongoing continental tournament.
“This cash prize goes to the groundsmen. This tournament wouldn’t have been possible without them,” Siraj said post-match.
The Indian pacer would term his bowling on Sunday against Sri Lanka as his ‘best spell’.
“Have been bowling well since a long time. Was missing the edges earlier. But found them today. The wicket was seaming earlier, but there was swing today. Thought that I will bowl fuller because of the swing. When there’s good bonding between fast bowlers, it’s helpful for the team. I was thinking it would be great if I could stop the boundary,” Siraj would add.
Believing in naseeb
Even after picking a six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday, Mohammed Siraj remembered when he missed out on a fifer against the opposition earlier this year.
It was another instance of the Sri Lankan batting crumbling down as the Indian bowlers restricted them to 73 and claimed a 3-0 series win in January. Siraj, who’d lighted up the matchstick by picking first three of the four wickets, would miss out on a first ODI fifer.
On Sunday, the 29-year-old would get the elusive five and another as Sri Lanka crashed for a score of 50 in the Asia Cup Final.
Record-breaking Siraj! 🤯@mdsirajofficial rewrites history, now recording the best figures in the Asia Cup!
6️⃣ for the pacer!Tune-in to #AsiaCupOnStar, LIVE NOW on Star Sports Network#INDvSL #Cricket pic.twitter.com/2S70USxWUI
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 17, 2023
Speaking to the broadcasters in the mid-innings break, Siraj shared, “Feels like a dream. Last time I did the same against Sri Lanka at Trivandrum. Got four wickets early, couldn’t get the five-for. I realized you get what’s in your destiny.”
Bowling with the new ball, Siraj would claim the joint-quickest fifer in ODI history as he claimed his first five wickets inside 16 deliveries of his spell. Before Sunday, Siraj had managed to pick four wickets in his previous four outings in the ongoing tournament.
“Did not try too much today. I have always looked for swing in white-ball cricket. Did not find much in the previous games. But today it was swinging, and I got more wickets with the outswinger. Wanted to make the batters drive,” the pick of Indian bowlers added.
Among others, Hardik Pandya would claim three wickets for India while Jasprit Bumrah also struck in the first over of the innings. Sri Lanka’s total of 50 is now the lowest score in Asia Cup history. The previous lowest total in the tournament in the 50-over format was by Bangladesh when they were 87 all out vs Pakistan in 2000.
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