Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah’s ability to run through opposition batting line-ups in the dust bowls of middle-east are well known and that was on display yet again on Monday as he created a magic web around New Zealand’s batsmen.
The wily leg-spinner picked up 8 wickets in the first innings as the Kiwis went from 50 for no loss to 90 all out. Shah returned with personal best figures of 8/41 in 12.3 overs as Pakistan earned a 328-run lead over their opponents.
Asked to follow the Kiwis were once again targetted by Shah as he picked up 2 wickets in 15 overs to complete 10 wickets in a day. As a result, the Pakistani became the first bowler since Indian legend Anil Kumble to pick up 10 wickets in a day of a Test match.
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Kumble’s feat interestingly came against Pakistan on February 7, 1999 as he polished off all 10 wickets to join England’s Jim Laker as the only other bowler to pick up all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.
{{/usCountry}}Kumble’s feat interestingly came against Pakistan on February 7, 1999 as he polished off all 10 wickets to join England’s Jim Laker as the only other bowler to pick up all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.
{{/usCountry}}Shah picked up 7 wickets in the space of 27 balls to register the third best bowling figures for a Pakistani bowler in Tests behind Abdul Qadir’s 9 for 56 and Sarfraz Nawaz’s 9 for 86.
It took 19 years, 9 months and 19 days for a bowler to emulate Kumble’s record.