KL Rahul was on 149, batting an innings that looked to be saving the 5th Test match for India against England at the Oval.
Rahul was firmly set at the crease, and it looked like something truly special was needed to get him out. So, up stepped England’s Adil Rashid with the delivery that helped England to victory.
Rashid backed up England’s decision not to take the new ball, as his delivery spun 10 degrees, skipped past Rahul’s bat and hit the off-stump.
Earlier, India surprised many by fighting back to 325/5 after losing three quick wickets on day four. There were certainly some nervous England fans at the Tea break on the final day.
And Rahul’s wicket came at a time when Rashid was being crictized from the stands, particularly from Indian supporters. But his delivery forced his detractors into silence, and it kick started England’s attack in the final session.
India eventually fell to 345 all out, giving England a fairly dominant series victory.
Here’s the video:
https://twitter.com/mericanViolence/status/1039536734550282240
‘Wow, that’s the ball of this century’
BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew, when interviewing Rashid after the match, marvelled at the England tweaker’s performance.
“People are already talking about it, ‘Wow, that’s the ball of this century’, I don’t how he was supposed to have played that, it went miles,” Agnew said.
A modest Rashid explained he was just trying to make the most of the fifth-day pitch conditions.
“I had a simple plan, I was trying to spin it hard into the rough with some variations,” Rashid said. “Lucky for me that spun quite a bit and hit the top of off (stump), which was good.”
