Shami finds perfect time to find form, ends Cooper Connolly’s dreadful stay in India vs Australia semifinal

Mohammed Shami couldn’t have found the perfect time to hit his strides. After failing to trouble batters and seemingly struggling with injury, the right-arm pacer has gotten back to his wicket-taking ways. Shami looked off-colour against New Zealand and Pakistan. But in the India vs. Australia semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy, he ticked off by sending temporary opener Cooper Connolly back to the hut.

Replacing an injury Matthew Short, Connolly, who wasn’t even part of the Australia squad, looked out of sorts. Travis Head took the strike, but Shami got a look at the 21-year-old, who was playing just his 7th international game. The Dubai pitch looked even more sluggish than usual.

The ball didn’t seem to be coming onto the bat. Head and Connolly were both struggling. Unlikely for him, Shami was also bowling at his best. The youngster played and missed plenty of times. He looked to pierce the fielder’s ring on the off-side but failed to do so a couple of times.

After facing eight balls from Shami, Connolly finally cracked. It wasn’t the best ball that the pacer bowled. It was short outside off. Connolly looked to cut it but only managed an edge from the toe of the bat, and KL Rahul took it easily. The on-field umpire didn’t raise his finger, and Rohit Sharma went for the review in a jiffy. The first breakthrough for Team India as they looked to exact the November 19 revenge.