India seamer Mohammed Shami said there was no rocket science behind his spectacular five-wicket haul in Thursday’s 302-run Cricket World Cup demolition of Sri Lanka, crediting his success to finding rhythm and keeping his mind uncluttered.
After India scored a commanding 357-8, Shami ripped through Sri Lanka’s line-up and finished with figures of 5-18, while pace colleague Mohammed Siraj grabbed 3-16 to bundle out the island nation for 55 — their lowest total in an ODI World Cup.
India’s seventh victory in as many matches meant they booked their place in the semi-finals.
Photo: AFP
“All the hard work we’re putting in, the rhythm we’ve found, it’s because of that you’re getting to see this storm [on the cricket field], the incredible things our bowling unit is doing,” Shami said. “The rhythm we’re bowling with, I can’t believe anyone will not enjoy it. So yes, we’re enjoying ourselves a lot and working together as a unit, and you’re able to see the results of that.”
Shami has now claimed 45 World Cup wickets in 14 innings — the most by an India bowler, surpassing seamers Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan on 44.
“No rocket science,” Shami said when informed that none of his World Cup wickets were LBWs. “Just a matter of rhythm, good food, keeping your mind uncluttered and most importantly, the love of the people.”
“The support we get in India has a huge role. When you go out of India, you get so much support from Indians,” he said. “So I’ll keep trying to make everyone happy.”
Batsman Shubman Gill, who hit a run-a-ball 92 against Sri Lanka, said the bowlers had made their work easier in the tournament.
“Our bowlers have been doing a phenomenal job,” Gill said. “They’ve always restricted the opposition to below-par scores, which has made our job as batsmen easy.”
“We were anticipating wickets almost on every ball ... the way our fast bowlers have bowled throughout the World Cup has been sensation to watch, especially from the slips,” he added.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
RSS