South Africa’s chinaman spinner, Tabraiz Shamsi picked the wicket of Wihan Lubbe when Paarl Rocks played Durban Heat in the Mzansi Super League on Wednesday. While that may be nothing new for him, what he did next is what left fans spellbound.
We’ll let you see it yourself:
We have seen magical deliveries before, but @shamsi90 has shown us a magical celebration for the first time. 🧙♂️
— SPN- Sports (@SPNSportsIndia) December 5, 2019
Watch all action from Mzansi Super League 🏏LIVE on SONY SIX 📺 #SonySports #MzansiSuperLeague pic.twitter.com/fsCbmAlAKy
Shamsi picked out a red handkerchief from his pocket in celebration. At first, it seemed fairly innocuous, something of the sort had not been done before but maybe he wanted to do something different. But different is not the word one would use to describe that.
Of course, Twitter did not need a second invitation to latch onto Shamsi and his shenanigans, instantly making the Protea spinner an internet trend. Safe to say it wowed them. Check out some of the reactions:
Tabraiz Shamsi just did the most bizarre celebration in the history of any sport!
— Vinesh Prabhu (@vlp1994) December 4, 2019
How did this happen 😱#MSL2019 pic.twitter.com/KH913TLL7n
Tabraiz Shamsi - The Magician-Cricketer 😳 pic.twitter.com/yidyKldWvq
— Mrutyunjay Mohanty (@MartianTapu) December 5, 2019
Shamsi 😳
— VISHWA (விஷ்வா) 🧐 (@vishwatweets2) December 5, 2019
He has different celebrations its enjoyable too
Kerchief mask celebration , shoe phone call celebration , now magic 💥 https://t.co/NgBRL51V5N
Buy Shamsi and he will make towel a trophy by magic ...@RCBTweets . @CoachHesson https://t.co/Terif0nd8Y
— 2458* (@Marvellous_Capt) December 5, 2019
Tabraiz Shamsi is some sort of wizardpic.twitter.com/YM0TO6pwbL
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) December 5, 2019
Tabraiz Shamsi with the greatest celebration in sporting history. pic.twitter.com/KPdQF6xWV5
— Sᴀᴄʜɪɴ ッ (@sachinofcl) December 4, 2019
Tabraiz Shamsi with the iconic celebration!
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) December 5, 2019
Actual magic in the #MSLT20 🚩 pic.twitter.com/7IvL839Ofs
While Shamsi, who last played for South Africa in their T20 series against India, left audiences with their jaws wide open, it did not quite work out for his team, Paarl Rocks. They had put up 195-2 in their 20 overs, courtesy Cameron Delport’s 49-ball 84 and skipper Faf du Plessis’ 66 off just 36 balls.
In response, Wesley Marshall and Alex Hales put on 3o for the opening partnership for Durban Heats before the former fell to Sri Lankan pacer, Isuru Udana. Heat put on good partnerships throughout the innings but had fallen to 139-4 in 14.3 overs.
However, Alex Hales put his hand up at the right moment. The England opener, who was dropped from the World Cup squad earlier in the year for alleged drug use hung around and used the long handle to great effect.
He clubbed all the bowlers and ended up with an unbeaten 55-ball 97, helping Durban Heat chase down the target in just 18.5 overs. Paarl Rocks retained the second spot on the table despite the loss.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @shamsi90