Cricket World Cup: How Mujeeb and Nabi enforced a middle-overs throttle on Sri Lanka to make up for an average Rashid-Naveen day | Cricket-world-cup News
Rashid Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq weren’t having the best of days, but the second line of attack stepped up on the day.
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama all got starts but failed to turn them into substantive scores. Nissanka drove on the up, cut past point, was quick to pull behind square and slash to third man as he ruined Naveen’s figures and composure. The man who grew up in a humble house built for tsunami rehabilitation, with his father a groundsman and mother a flower-seller, was rebuilding the Lankan innings after losing his opening partner till he nicked one behind from close to the body.
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Samarawickrama, the man in form, would take over, pulling Azmatullah Omarzai in front of square and driving him smoothly over covers. Mendis was unforgiving on width offered Naveen’s short balls, and slashed Omarzai’s short-of-length deliveries to deep point. With the Afghan pacers being regularly pinched for runs and a 50-run partnership between Mendis and Samarawickrama blossoming, Mujeeb was brought back in the 24th over. Alongside Mohammed Nabi, he would begin the mid-overs strangle.
Mujeeb pushed a quick one through from the back of the hand that swerved into Mendis, and skidded off the surface. Mendis attempting to slog-sweep would come undone the bounce as he was caught at deep mid-wicket substitute Najibullah Zadran for a 50-ball 39. Next over he came to bowl, Mujeeb removed the dangerous Samarawickrama with a googly off the first ball that skid on and stayed dead straight. The batsman had no read on the bamboozler that floated fuller and was trapped to screech-stop the top order inside 30 overs.Most Read
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Rashid, who was being picked the Lankan top batters, finally found success with a gorgeous back-off-the-hand googly to Dhananjay de Silva. His third delivery of the 36th over had been a googly, and Dhananjaya played the fourth expecting another one. He would stop Rashid mid-delivery, dracted. Next ball, the googly actually fetched up, and his stab forward completely missed the line.
But on a day that Rashid wasn’t at his best, seasoned Nabi and young Mujeeb would choke the runs. It was a great middle-overs throttle Afghanan, who strangled the momentum and stubbed partnerships to such an extent, tamping down on the runs with such stinginess, that the Sri Lankans were forced into injudicious shots.
Mujeeb gave just 4 runs in the 26th over, 3 in the 28th, 5 in the 30th, and 2 in the 32nd. Nabi gave 2 in the 27th, 5 each in the 29th and 31st, and 6 in the 33rd. It was the lack of boundaries off Mujeeb and Nabi that helped paper over a relatively indifferent day for Rashid and Naveen applying the brakes. The Afghans also stayed largely accurate with their throws and their fielding and tight lengths piled on the pressure. It would end up in a sub-par 241 for the Lankans.
