Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Proteas come down with a case of the ‘Wankhede Virus’
Baby-faced Root sublime in second-highest run-chase in T20 history Mumbai scorecard
“I’VE played games here where we have scored 230 and still lost,” said Proteas captain Faf du Plessis on the eve of their World T20 opener at the Wankhede Stadium against England last night. He did not know that his words would ring true the very next day.
Incredibly Joe Root, the baby-faced England batsman who the South African Test bowlers became familiar with over the home summer, played an innings of sublime quality that will surely be recorded as one of the finest World T20 innings, if not the very best.
He will have to compete with Marlon Samuels’ 78 off 56 balls for the West Indies against Sri Lanka in the 2012 final, and Australian Mike Hussey’s 60 off 24 balls in the 2010 semi- final against Pakistan. But neither of the aforementioned pair had to deal with the scoreboard pressure of chasing down the tournament’s highest- ever total.
Root played all around the wicket during his 44- ball 83, utilising a combination of drives, pulls, flicks and switchhits to breathe fresh life into England’s campaign after their opening defeat to West Indies three days ago.
England’s reply of 230/ 5 meant they had made their highest-ever T20 score as well as the second-highest chase in the history of this format.
Doctors will soon be diagnosing a new illness for bowlers on their sick notes called the “Wankhede Virus”, for not many will want to turn up for work if this surface remains such a paradise for batsmen. Bowlers simply have no purchase on a pitch that is so true it could stand up in a court of law.
But who cares about those guys hurling the ball down from 22 yards when the entert a i n ment on show could not be better even if it was scripted in a nearby Bollywood studio.
The pure statistics of last night’s batting extravaganza was simply mind-blowing. South Africa smashed 13 sixes SOUTH AFRICA H Amla lbw b Ali Q de Kock c Hales b Ali AB de Villiers c Morgan b Rashid F du Plessis c Roy b Willey JP Duminy not out D Miller not out Extras (2b, 2w) Total (4 wickets, 20 overs) Falls: 1-96, 2-114, 3-133, 4-169. Bowling: D Willey 4-0-40-1 (1w), R Topley 2-0-33-0, M Ali 4-0-34-2, C Jordan 3-0-49-0, B Stokes 2-0-23-0 (1w), A Rashid 4-0-35-1, J Root 1-0-13-0. 58 52 16 17 54 28 4 229 ENGLAND J Roy c de Kock b Abbott 43 A Hales lbw b Abbott 17 B Stokes c Morris b Rabada 15 J Root c Miller b Rabada 83 E Morgan b Duminy 12 J Buttler st de Kock b Imran Tahir 21 M Ali not out 8 C Jordan c Duminy b Abbott 5 D Willey run out 0 A Rashid not out 0 Extras (6lb, 20w) 26 Total (for 8 wickets, 19.4 overs) 230 Falls: 1-48, 2-71, 3-87, 4-111, 5-186, 6219, 7-229, 8-229. Bowling: K Rabada 4-0-50-2 (2w), D Steyn 2-0-35-0 (1w), K Abbott 3.4-0-41-3 (2w), Imran Tahir 4-0-28-1 (2w), JP Duminy 3-0-31-1, C Morris 3-0-39-0 (3w).
England won by two wickets (with two balls remaining) in their innings and 20 further boundaries. England replied with nine sixes and 20 fours.
The powerplay numbers were equally astonishing. Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock klapped 83 off the 36 balls delivered – that’s 13.83 runs to the over. But if you thought that was a lot, England showed they could go even quicker as they posted 89 in their six powerplay overs. They did, however, lose three wickets more. It was Jason Roy who
out-
paced both Amla and De Kock as the opener set off at a rollicking rate in pursuit of South Africa’s mammoth target. Roy required just 16 balls for his 43 – an innings which included three sixes and five fours to propel him to a strike-rate of 268.75!
At the halfway stage, South Africa would have been satisfied with their efforts. They had not wasted the early momentum De Kock and Amla had provided even after AB de Villiers, who was sent in at No 3, was unable to take advantage of his promotion.
Du Plessis has stated previously that this Proteas T20 does not rely solely on De Villiers. And JP Duminy, – South Africa’s highest runscorer in the shortest format – proved just that, along with David Miller. They lashed 60 runs off the last 33 balls, with Duminy striking South Africa’s third 50 of the innings.
He was particularly strong through the off-side which he peppered with a couple of lofted drives for six.
England had a slight wobble towards the end of their chase when they lost Root in the second-last over. But such was the ferociousness of their pursuit that not even the dismissals of Chris Jordan and David Willey in Kyle Abbott’s final over could spoil a magical night in Mumbai that this young England side will long remember.