Cooper Connolly’s Champions Trophy turned into nightmare by Mohammed Shami, beaten 7 times in a row before nicking

Young Cooper Connolly‘s ICC Champions Trophy debut turned into a nightmare as India pacer Mohammed Shami gave him a torrid time with the new ball before sending him back to the pavilion in the semi-final match at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. Connolly, who was drafted into the Australian Champions Trophy squad as a replacement for injured opener Matthew Short, straightaway found himself in the host seat in the big semi-final against India.

After captain Steve Smith opted to bat, he walked out to open the batting with the high-flying Travis Head. The plan was to take as much advantage of the fielding restrictions as possible. The Australian batting unit knew the importance of getting off to a quick start on the Dubai pitch, which is likely to get slower as the match progresses. But India’s new-ball bowlers Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya had other ideas.

Shami, in particular, gave Connolly a nightmarish time. The veteran India pacer beat the left-handed opening batter on seven consecutive balls (including a wide) before finding the outside edge of his bat in the last ball of the third over.

Connolly defended the first two balls he faced off Shami but then failed to make any contact for the next eight deliveries. Shami maintained a good line from around the wicket, challenging both edges of the left-hander, who seemed to have a lot of trouble gaging the pace off the pitch.

After beating him for seven balls in a row, Shami pitched one slightly up, enticing Connolly to go for the uppish square drive. He obliged only to get a faint nick to keeper KL Rahul, who took a good low catch. The Indians went up in a huge appeal but umpire Richard Illingworth shook his head. Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in going for the review. Replays conveyed there was a big deflection as the ball went past Connolly’s bat and went in safely inside Rahul’s gloves.