On a pitch that had a slight tinge of green, the slower balls proved to be India’s undoing in the chase. The off-pace deliveries, led by Lungi Ngidi who bowled a spell for the ages, that were banged into the surface and ultimately held up proved too challenging to score off and strangled India’s batters.
Abhishek Sharma
Right through his brief stay, one could sense that Abhishek was growing restless. Marco Jansen, sensing it, sent down a knuckleball slower delivery that is hard to pick up from the hand, on a full length. The opener, who had already committed to the shot, could only sky it, Thereafter, Corbin Bosch did the rest, covering good distance from mid-wicket and catching it almost near mid-on.
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Suryakumar Yadav
When he arrived, the skipper got off to a quick start, before Proteas tied him up by varying the pace. Just as Surya was looking to get comfortable, Bosch sent a delivery down the leg-stump line, which he tried to flick it towards the vacant square-leg. But like Abhishek, he was early on his shot to a ball that slowed after pitching, which meant he popped one straight to Dewald Brevis at mid-wicket off the cue end.
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Shivam Dube
The left-hander was India’s only bright spot in batting, but like the rest, Dube too struggled when it came to putting away the slower deliveries. While he feasted on those in his arc, Jansen prized him out with a knuckleball to finish off a wonderful spell. Cramping for room, the pace off the ball meant Dube couldn’t do much apart from spooning it to Lungi Ngidi at fine-leg.
Lungi Ngidi: 4-0-15-0
There were no wickets to show for Ngidi, but that won’t tell how well he bowled. Ngidi ensured that India didn’t get out of the stranglehold. Ball after ball, he would hit the deck while taking the pace off. That he used the cutters with different releases meant India’s batsmen struggled to pick him off his hand. It was almost as if Ngidi was falling on the Pat Cummins blueprint from November 19, 2023. Safe to say it worked wonders as he delivered 11 dot balls in the middle-overs that choked India.
