Pakistan fast bowler Salman Irshad made a dream start, taking three wickets in five balls in their CPL 2023 encounter against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (SNP) on Wednesday, 23 August. Playing for defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs, the 27-year-old grabbed the crucial wickets of Andre Fletcher, Corbin Bosch, and Ambati Rayudu to break the back of the SNP batting.
The right-arm seamer started his spell by removing dangerman Andre Fletcher with a delivery that bounced to the wicketkeeper. Irshad followed this up with another delivery that bounced and Bosch edged straight into the hands of the point fielder. The final wicket of his over was that of IPL veteran Ambati Rayudu, who pressed down the track to attack the bowler but only managed to find the third man fielder. The triple-wicket over reduced SNP to 38/4 in five overs.
Here’s the video of Irshad’s dream three-wicket opening over:
Super Salman 🇵🇰 Salman Irshad takes the wickets of Ambati Rayudu, Andre Fletcher and Corbin Bosch in the same over 🤯 #CPL23 #SKNPvJT #CricketPlayedLouder #BiggestPartyInSport pic.twitter.com/eNS4sS2Kib
— CPL T20 (@CPL) August 23, 2023
The 27-year-old came back to pick up the wicket of Joshua da Silva in his final over and finished with figures of 4/27 from his four overs. Salman Irshad also took two wickets in the opening match, which Tallawahs won by 11 runs.
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“My Confidence Is High Because Of People Like Imad and Aamir” – Salman Irshad
Salma Irshad credited fellow Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim after winning the player of the match award for her four-wicket haul in Tallawahs’ second win of the season. The fast bowler put in a tremendous performance for Peshawar Zalmi in PSL 2022, taking 15 wickets, just five wickets short of tournament leader Shaheen Afridi.
“I just bowled in the good areas. Last 3 years I’ve played a lot of T20 cricket in Pakistan, I am a T20 specialist. My confidence is high because of guys like Imad and Amir, they keep supporting me,” Irshad said at the post-match presentation.
The 27-year-old holds an impressive T20I record of 54 wickets in 44 matches at an average of 25.05, including two 4-wicket hauls. Salman Irshad’s spell helped restrict SNP to 156/9 in their 20 overs, a target which Tallawahs easily achieved with eight wickets and 21 balls to spare. Captain Brandon King provided the defending champions with a second successive half-century (67 off 33 balls) to get the season off to the right start.
Jamaica Tallawahs will take on Guyana Amazon Warriors in their next match on Sunday, 27th August.
