Sports

T20 Blast: Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah’s fiery yorker castles Surrey’s Will Jacks

June 1, 2022
Bharat Times

T20 Blast 2022: Naseem Shah bowled a brilliant spell but Gloucestershire defeated Surrey by 37 runs at the Kennington Oval in London

Naseem Shah. Courtesy: Reuters

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Shah finished with figures of 3-0-23-1
  • Surrey beat Gloucestershire by 37 runs
  • Shah showed the damage he can do with the ball

Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah started his campaign in the T20 Blast 2022 with a thunderous spell for Gloucestershire. The Young Turk picked up two crucial wickets of Ravi Bopara and George Garton as Gloucestershire defeated Sussex by 41 runs at the County Ground in Bristol. The young pacer again showed his class in his second match against Surrey on Tuesday at the Kennington Oval in London.

He finished with bowling figures of 3-0-23-1, although his team lost the match by 37 runs. After being put into bat first, Surrey racked up a decent score of 129 in 15 overs. Jason Roy and Will Jacks laid the platform with an opening-wicket stand of 60 runs off 27 balls. Roy’s was the first wicket to go down, but Jacks went on to score 51 runs off 33 balls with four fours and three sixes.

It was speedster Naseem Shah, who dismissed Jacks with an absolute peach in the 12th. When Jacks was all set to step on the gas, the 19-year-old Shah churned out a deadly yorker and the batter absolutely had no clue about how to face the vicious delivery. The ball swung in sharply and Jacks tried to dig it out, but to no avail.

Jacks’ knock, however, turned out to be a crucial one in the context of the game as Surrey secured a comfortable victory. Gloucestershire failed to put in much of a fight as they managed to score only 92 runs in their run-chase. Ryan Higgins top-scored for them with a 37-run knock.