India vs SA – Team India opener KL Rahul failed.
India vs SA – Team India opener KL Rahul failed to end his rough patch with the bat on Sunday and was dismissed cheaply against South Africa in the T20 World Cup clash at Perth Stadium.
During his spell, Ngidi had bounced out the best of India’s batsmen and, in a sense, found the profound meaning of the night.
The flamboyant batter struggled to get going on a bounce Perth surface as he was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi for just 9.
Captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa but it didn’t turn out the way he expected. Wayne Parnel bowled a top-class first over where Rahul failed to score any and ended in a maiden.
India vs SA – South African pacer Lungi Ngidi once had a very scary Indian experience.
After a few tidy overs, Team India openers tried to take on the bowlers as Rohit and Rahul hit a six each. However, Ngidi ruined their plan as he first dismissed skipper Rohit for 15 as he attempted the pull shot but wasn’t able to time it well and got caught by the bowler itself.
India vs SA – the same over, Rahul edged the ball at the slip to Aiden Markram. It was the third back-to-back failure for Rahul in this tournament as earlier he was dismissed for 4 against Pakistan and 9 versus the Netherlands.
The 30-year-old suffered the wrath of trolls as the fans were highly unimpressed with his form with the bat in Australia’s mega T20 World Cup event.
He took six wickets in an innings and was a man of the match. And now at this very important World T20, he had the Indians on the hop.
On Sunday, as soon as the ball was given to Ngidi, Dale Steyn would remark on air that this pitch should suit him. It was the reason he replaced the left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsie in the playing XI.
India vs SA – It didn’t take him long to show why. Rohit would mis-time the first ball just over cover but didn’t take many lessons from it. He would soon charge out, backing away a touch, but Ngidi didn’t panic: he hit that hard length hard. And Rohit tried to swipe-pull it across but that shot was hardly going to work on this tennis-ball bounce pitch.
The ball just lobbed on the leg side for Ngidi to complete the catch and beam a big smile. He wasn’t done. Another hit-the-decker arrived, this time outside off stump, and despite the presence of slips, KL Rahul thought he could play a tame steer to third man. Mistake. He just sent it straight to the slip to continue his poor performances against proper pace. He also accounted for Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya.
India vs SA – His celebrations were muted in all four instances he picked up a wicket. When he ejected Rohit Sharma, he just stopped in his follow-through and mechanically threw the ball back to the umpire. He offered regular handshakes with his chums as if nothing had happened. KL Rahul’s scalp was met with an apologetic smile. When he nailed Hardik Pandya with another short ball, he produced a sardonic smile. Of all the virtues that the Zulu-speaking pacer demonstrated, level-headedness shone the brightest.
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