It was a real threat for Bhowanipore batsmen when Mohammed Shami was bowling yesterday with a pink ball in the final of the CAB Super League. Geet Puri and Ravikant Singh were impressive for Bhowanipore with the new ball. But, Mohammed Shami was fantastic and showed his class. Shami finished with 5 for 42 bowling 13.4 overs.
Mohun Bagan managed 299 in their first innings. Shami’s first over was an eventful over. it had two no balls, one wicket, and three balls which were too fast for the batsman and thudded into his pads. When Shami was hitting the pitch hard and exposing chinks in the Bhowanipore batsmen’s technique and footwork, Sanjeev Sanyal was getting it to swing. Mohun Bagan’s close-catching too was superb and Bhowanipore were down to 24/5. Shami came back on later and finished the session with three wickets from 9.5 overs. Sanjib Sanyal had two wickets to his name, and Sourav Mondal took two as well. No spinners were bowled in the afternoon session.
Within the first hundred minutes of the Bhowanipore innings, seven wickets had fallen, five among them for ducks, and 45 runs had been scored. Mukherjee and Yadav seemed to be more comfortable as the ball wore down, adding 38 runs before the end of the session.
“It swung under lights and that’s what I like about this pink ball. I would like bowling with this over a red or white cricket ball. And on a dry, flat track, I also think it will reverse. Also, it is so bright,” said Shami.
India wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha added: “The sighting’s good. The white ball tends to lose colour after a while and the red ball does become blacker. But this one doesn’t. Also, each delivery is doing a bit. Add to that someone such as Shami bowling at 140kmph.”