Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who has returned to the Test side, took fans down memory lane as he produced a Shane Warne-like ‘Ball of the Century’ to dismiss Kusal Mendis on Day 3 of the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka.
It all happened during the 56th over of Sri Lanka’s second innings when Yasir came up with the unplayable delivery. He pitched the red leather well outside the leg stump, which turned big, completely squaring up the batter and hitting the top of the off stump.
Mendis did all he could as he was looking to play the line, but it was literally impossible for anyone to handle that much turn. No wonder the stunning dismissal reminded fans of the popular ‘Ball of the Century’ bowled by late Aussie spinner Warne.
Notably, Warne accomplished the feat during the first Ashes Test against England at Manchester back in 1993. Warne’s ball landed wide of leg and spun so much that it knocked over the off-stump of batter Mike Gatting.
Here is the video:
Ball of the Century candidate
Yasir Shah stunned Kusal Mendis with a stunning delivery which reminded the viewers of Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’.#SLvPAK pic.twitter.com/uMPcua7M5E
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 18, 2022
Yasir’s dismissal, however, did not impact much as Sri Lanka managed to pile up runs in the second innings to swell their lead to over 300 runs.
Yasir bagged three wickets while pacer Mohammad Nawaz claimed a 5-wicket haul, but half-centuries from Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal and Mendis took the Islanders past 300. Sri Lanka eventually were bundled out for 337 and gave Pakistan the target of 342 runs. Chandimal remained unbeaten on 94 off 139 deliveries.
