Why did Yasir Shah signal seven after dismissing Steve Smith?
What's the story
Steve Smith, who made headlines during the Ashes 2019, is off to a shaky start at home, having been dismissed for a mere four in the opening Test against Pakistan in Brisbane. However, what was conspicuous is that following his dismissal off spinner Yasir Shah, the latter celebrated by displaying seven through his fingers, which got social media talking. Here, we decode its meaning.
Smith's dismissal
How was Smith dismissed?
Coming in at number four, following the dismissal of David Warner, Smith faced 10 delivers and managed to score four runs. As for his dismissal, Yasir bowled a delivery that landed in line of the off-stump, while there was hardly any turn it. Meanwhile, Smith went to play in on the on side, only to miss it completely as the ball disturbed the woodwork.
Seventh time lucky
Yasir dismisses Smith on seventh occasion
Following the dismissal, as Yasir displayed seven during his celebration with teammates, people wondered as to how could there be seven runs, when the batsman was clearly dismissed. However, cricket.co.au sent out a tweet stating that it was the seventh occasion when Smith had been dismissed by Yasir. Notably, Smith averages just 27.28 against Yasir.
Twitter Post
Yasir seventh-time lucky for having Smith's number
Yasir Shah has now dismissed Steve Smith seven times in Test cricket - and knows it! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/ykTqg1imIS
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 23, 2019
Batsman Yasir
Yasir Shah faces second most balls in his Test career
While Yasir is known to make the most impact with his bowling, he came up with a great performance with the bat, as he faced the second-most number of deliveries in his Test career. While he faced 83 deliveries in this Test, his record for the same is of 93 deliveries, against this very side in 2017, in Sydney.
Match report
How did the match pan out?
Winning the toss and electing to bat, Pakistan were bundled for 240. Meanwhile, Australia were ruthless with the bat, especially their top order, with Warner (154) and Marnus Labuschagne (185), playing a hell of an innings. Pakistan, in the second innings, did show a fight, as Babar Azam scored a century, but it wasn't enough as Australia won by an innings and five runs.
Records scripted
Some records scripted in this match
Following are some of the records scripted in this tie: Warner surpassed Allan Border (779 runs) as he has now scored more runs (817) than the latter at this venue. Naseem Shah becomes the youngest debutant on Australian soil (16 years and 279 days). Azhar Ali and Shan Masood register Pakistan's highest Test opening partnership in Brisbane (75 runs).