Fast bowler Mohammed Shami on Thursday became India’s highest wicket-taker in ODI World Cup history during his team’s match against Sri Lanka at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Shami, who came to bowl at first-change produced a brilliant display of fast bowling to pick 5/18 from five overs and take his wicket tally to 45 wickets in ODI World Cups in just his 14th appearance.
The 33-year-old pacer surpassed Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath, who both have 44 wickets in ODI World Cups for India.
With this sensational spell, Shami also entered the top 10 of the highest wicket takers in ODI World cup history, which is topped by legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath with 71. Among active international cricketers, only Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult are above him in the tally with 56 and 49 wickets respectively.
It was also Shami’s third World Cup five-wicket haul and he has now equalled Starc for the historic feat.
Along with Shami, Mohammed Siraj (3/16) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/8) also put on a dominating performance with the ball as India bowled out Sri Lanka for 55 in 19.4 overs and registered a massive 302 run win.
Before India’s seam attack took over in style, it was half-centuries from Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer lit up the first innings and helped India post 357 for 8 in 50 overs.
With the dominant win over Sri Lanka, which was their seventh consecutive victory of the tournament, hosts India became the first semi-finalists of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. India have two more matches to come, against South Africa in Kolkata and Netherlands in Bengaluru, but cannot be mathematically denied a top-four spot having won all seven of their matches so far.
The remainder of the semi-final lineup is yet to be determined, with Pakistan and Afghanistan still in the mix, just two points behind Australia and New Zealand in the standings.