Colombo | Mohammed Siraj was breathing fire under overcast conditions in Colombo, as he mercilessly ripped apart Sri Lanka's top order in the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 final here at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.
Courtesy of Siraj's dream opening spell, India ripped apart Sri Lanka for 50 in the Asia Cup 2023 final.
Over the years, there have been some outstanding fast bowlers in Indian cricket, and the team's performance in the limited-overs format has been greatly influenced by their abilities.
Several records were broken in the last 90 minutes as Siraj finished with 6 wickets to his name. Four of those wickets came in one over, and that's where he sealed the fate of the match.
Siraj, a rising star who gave an incredible performance against Sri Lanka in the 2023 Asia Cup Finals, is at the top of this elite ranking. India star pacer pulled football legend Cristiano Ronaldo's trademark 'Siuuu' celebration after bagging his five-wicket haul in the final.
After bowling a maiden over, Siraj struck four times in the single over to leave Sri Lanka wobbling at 12/5 after the end of the 4th over.
He had Pathum Nissanka caught at point off the very first ball of the over. He followed it up with the wickets of Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith
Asalanka off the third and fourth balls of the over respectively. Samarawickrama was trapped lbw, while Asalanka was caught in the covers.
Off the final delivery, he had Dhananjaya de Silva caught behind. He followed up this magical over with another wicket. He cleaned up Shanaka in his very next over. Within 16 balls 'Miyan Magic' completed his fifer.
With this, he completed a five-for off merely 16 balls. This equals the world record for the quickest five-for (ever since ball-by-ball data became available). He shares this with Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas, who had picked five wickets against Bangladesh off merely 16 balls in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2003.
Siraj became the second bowler in the Asia Cup 50-over format to take a 6-wicket haul after Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis bagged the figure of 6/13 against India in 2008.
Indian speedster Siraj tore apart Sri Lanka's batting line-up with a dream spell to end the first innings in 15.2 overs in the Asia Cup 2023 final at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
Colombo | Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj on Sunday donated his player-of-the-match cash prize of USD 5,000 to the Sri Lankan groundstaff who worked tirelessly through the rain-hit Asia Cup.
"This cash prize goes to the groundsmen. They deserve it fully, this tournament wouldn't have been possible without them," Siraj said at the post-match presentation after India's 10 wicket win over Sri Lanka in the final.
Siraj bowled a devastating spell in which he took four wickets in the fourth over en route to a career-best 6/21 to help India bowl out Sri Lanka for a paltry 50 in the final.
Earlier on Sunday, the Asian Cricket Council chief Jay Shah also announced a cash reward of USD 50,000 for the groundsmen in Kandy and Colombo as an acknowledgment for their efforts in making the field of play ready.
Almost all the matches in the Sri Lankan leg of the Asia Cup were affected by rain. Even the final on Sunday had a delayed start because of wet outfield.
While India's opening fixture against arch-rivals Pakistan in Pallekele was washed out, a couple more encounters throughout the competition saw rain interruptions bringing the Duckworth Lewis method into effect.
The Super-4 meeting between India and Pakistan spilled on to the reserve day, when the former prevailed.
