We’ve become accustomed to the Sheldon Cottrell salute in 2019, but Tabraiz Shamsi may well have stolen the crown for the celebration of the year after his latest effort in the Mzansi Super League.

Bowling in the eighth over of Paarl Rockets’ defence of 195-2 against Durban Heat, Shamsi tossed one up outside Wihan Lubbe’s off stump only for the batsman to miscue the ball and sky it straight to Hardus Viljoen at cover.

After the fall of the wicket, Shamsi, no stranger to an esoteric celebration, wowed the crowd by unveiling a red piece of cloth that ‘magically’ turned into a metallic-coloured stick roughly a metre long.

Speaking after the game, Shamsi, who has represented South Africa on 35 occasions, said: “It’s an interesting story. Up until the age of 15, 16 I wanted to become a magician, it was a hobby of mine. It wasn’t just a phase as a small child, it was something that really interested me then obviously cricket took over, it fell away a bit, couldn’t practice it as much so what better way of to merge the two. I enjoy magic, I enjoy playing cricket.”

Despite Shamsi’s moment of magic, he ended the contest on the losing side. Alex Hales blasted 97* off 55 balls to take Durban Heat home with seven balls to spare.