June 6
Yuzvendra Chahal‘s 4 for 51 against South Africa played a big role in India’s first win of the World Cup. What was most impressive about Chahal’s performance was the quality of the batsmen he dismissed: Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo.
After the match, Chahal was asked by his spin partner Kuldeep Yadav on bcci.tv on his favourite scalp of the night, to which he promptly replied: “Faf du Plessis.”
“Faf was playing with small forward-steps and I was drifting the ball well,” Chahal said. “The previous two balls, I had bowled the legbreak. So for the wicket ball, I chose to bowl on off stump with the ball drifting in sharply. He couldn’t pick it, thinking I was bowling the legbreak, and that’s why the ball hit the inside of his bat and broke the stumps.”
Chahal also praised Rohit Sharma’s century against a difficult bowling attack that includes Kagiso Rabada. “He showed the temperament that an experienced batsman has,” Chahal said. “It wasn’t easy batting there against the new ball, but he stayed and finished the match. That was huge.”