Cricket fans at the Oval on Tuesday were treated to a trip back in time, by none other than England’s Adil Rashid.
The 30-year-old spin bowler produced one of the moments of the match to bowl out India’s opening batsman Lokesh Rahul, evoking memories of Shane Warne’s ball of the century.’
The second new ball was available, but England captain Joe Root decided to persist with the older one and Rashid. The leg-spinner was targeting the rough area and by virtue of that was making the ball to spin to a larger extent.
Rashid pitched the ball way outside leg-stump and after landing on the pitch, the ball spun back sharply to hit the stumps. Rahul, was dismissed for 149, was left perplexed. And then instantly, people started comparing the delivery to former Australian spin wizard Shane Warne’s ball of the century to Mike Gatting.
After accounting for Rahul’s wicket, Rashid struck again to remove Pant, who was fresh from his maiden Test century. India then eventually were bowled out for 345 and England won the final Test by 118 runs. The hosts had already sealed the series after the fourth Test and then extended their dominance in the last Test.
