SL vs PAK: Yasir Shah produces ‘Ball of the Century’ to castle Kusal Mendis

Yasir Shah might not be a regular face in the Pakistan team but has made the most of his opportunities whenever he has been picked in the playing XI. The leggie is also the joint second-fastest bowler to complete 100 Test wickets in just 17 matches. Meanwhile, Shah bowled a dream delivery to castle Sri Lankan batter, Kusal Mendis, on the third day of the ongoing first Test in Galle.

The manner in which Yasir dismissed Mendis was reminiscent of the late Australian spin legend Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’ to dismiss the legendary English batter Mike Gatting during the 1993 Ashes series. It was indeed a vital breakthrough for Pakistan as Kusal Mendis was threatening to take the match away from the visitors with the Lankan lead having surpassed 300.

Yasir Shah bamboozled Kusal Mendis with a stunning delivery

Kusal Mendis, who was batting on 76, was completely undone by a delivery that was bowled outside leg-stump which turned awkwardly after pitching and went on to hit the off stump. The delivery bowled by Shah was a sharp leg-spin just like Warne’s dream ball to get rid of Mike Gatting nearly three decades ago.

Watch the video here:

Beauty from Yasir Shah like Shane Warne's Ball to Gatting … pic.twitter.com/EKNgpZqZl6

— Taimoor Zaman (@taimoorze) July 18, 2022

Meanwhile, Yasir Shah finished the day with figures of 3/122 and apart from Kusal Mendis, he also accounted for the likes of opener Oshada Fernando and middle-order batter Dhananjaya de Silva. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka finished the day at 329/9 and have a mammoth lead of 333 runs.

They would now be hoping to add more to their tally when the play resumes on the fourth day. The visitors on the other hand just not need to wrap up the proceedings by picking up the last Sri Lankan wicket, but also need to ensure that they do not lose early wickets chasing a mammoth target on a wicket that is expected to deteriorate as the contest progresses.

Sri Lanka have a key spinner in the form of Prabath Jayasuriya and all eyes will be on skipper Babar Azam to play a decisive role for his team. The Pakistan captain scored 119 in the first innings.