Shami thanks Dhoni, Bumrah after hat-trick show

TIL Desk Sports/ Right-arm pacer bowled a brilliant spell at the death overs and claimed a hat-trick in the final over to help India upstage Afghanistan by 11 runs in a tense World Cup encounter in Southampton.

With 16 runs needed off the final over, Shami conceded a boundary of the first ball to Mohammad Nabi (52). However, he came out strongly and took the priced wicket of Nabi on the third ball, thus putting the match in India’s kitty.

On the following two deliveries, he got the wickets of Aftab Alam and Mujeeb Ur Rahman to bowl out Afghanistan for 213 in reply to India’s 224/8 on Saturday. Speaking to reporters after the game, Shami said it was MS Dhoni’s advice to go for the yorker on his hat-trick delivery and he followed it.

“The plan was simple. To bowl a yorker and even Mahi bhai suggested that… Don’t change anything now as you have a great chance of getting a hat-trick. It’s a rare opportunity and you need to do the same thing. So I did what exactly I was told,” Shami said.