Watch: South Africa captain Aiden Markram, a part-time off-spinner, decided to open the bowling in the crucial game against the West Indies in the T20 World Cup with Nicholas Pooran on strike, and the move paid off immediately as he sent back the in-form batter for a low score.
South Africa and West Indies were embroiled in a virtual knockout in Antigua after England’s massive win against the USA. South Africa’s decision to bowl first was vindicated after Marco Jansen sent back Shai Hope, last game’s half-centurion, for a golden duck on the third ball of the first over.
It brought in Pooran, the second highest-run scorer of the World Cup, to the crease. Sensing an opportunity, Markram brought himself on from the other end in a rare instance of him opening bowling. The move made strategic sense: Pooran has a strike rate of 107 against off-spin in T20Is, the lowest he has struck against any kind of bowling along with left-arm unorthodox spin bowling.
Pooran had also been dismissed nine times against off-spinners in his career until today. He fell for the tenth time when he failed to time his shot off the first ball of Markram, who was bowling from round the wicket. He gave an easy catch to Jansen at long-off, giving Markram just his 12th T20I wicket. “The match-up works against Pooran,” quipped Ian Bishop on commentary as the Proteas set off in celebration.
The wicket derailed the West Indies as they ended with 135-8 in their first innings. Barring a 42-ball 52 from Roston Chase and a nearly run-a-ball 35 from Kyle Mayers, the scorecard read a sorry reading, with six batters scoring in single digits.
A part-timer bowling in an important T20 World Cup game is not new: Back in 2016, England opened with Joe Root in the final against the West Indies to counter Chris Gayle. Root ended up dismissing Johnson Charles and Gayle in the space of two deliveries.
Watch Pooran fall to Markram here:
View this post on Instagram
Follow Wisden for all T20 World Cup updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights and video analysis.
