Indian national cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav, considered one of the team’s best players, produced a sensational direct knock in the first T20I of the four-match series against the South Africa national cricket team.
Suryakumar Yadav’s sensational delivery ended Proteas star Gerald Coetzee’s innings on Friday, November 8 at Durban’s Kingsmead.
Suryakumar Yadav shows excellent fielding effort
Gerald Coetzee produced an explosive effort with the bat for South Africa in the first T20I. With the match almost lost, the Proteas pacer swung his bat as hard as he could to break boundaries and entertain the crowd in Durban.
Gerald Coetzee, to some extent, was quite successful in his attempt as he smashed three sensational sixes and batted at a strike rate of 209.08, the most of any South African in the innings.
However, his innings was cut short on the fifth ball of the 17th over and Gerald Coetzee was forced to return to the dugout after scoring 23 runs off 11 balls.
Notably, in the 16.5 over, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh bowled a juicy full toss to Keshav Maharaj, who failed to utilize it. Maharaj mistimed himself to take cover and ran for a single.
There was great confusion between Keshav Maharaj and Gerald Coetzee as after multiple yes and no decisions and a mid-pitched conversation, they decided to go ahead with the run, only to see Suryakumar Yadav break the stumps on the batsman’s side with sensational direct hit.
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav took aim and hit the top of the batsman’s side stumps to dismiss Coetzee, who was very close to the crease. With the dismissal of Gerald Coetzee, the Proteas were reduced to 135/9.
After that, Avesh Khan castled Keshav Maharaj in the fifth ball of the 18th over to bowl out South Africa for 141 and help India win by 61 runs.
Also Read: Watch: Suryakumar Yadav dismissed in the 11th ball of Patrick Kruger’s over in unprecedented scenes
Watch: Suryakumar Yadav produces a brilliant direct hit to finish off Gerald Coetzee
A thunderous launch from SKY!
The captain’s brilliance on the field ended with Coetzee’s cameo!
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What happened in the previous T20I series in South Africa?
Prior to the clash against the Indian National Cricket Team in the shortest format of the game, the South Africa National Cricket Team had faced the Ireland National Cricket Team in a two-match T20I series.
South Africa comprehensively beat the Irish team in the series opener in Abu Dhabi to take the lead in the series. The Proteas bowling unit led by Patrick Kruger’s 4-wicket haul, restricted Ireland to 171/8 in their 20 overs.
Chasing the total, the opening duo of Ryan Rickelton and Reeza Hendricks displayed explosive batting and blasted a sensational half-century. After the openers laid the foundation for the win, the rest of the batsmen made small contributions as the Proteas completed the run chase in 17.4 overs to win by 8 wickets.
In the following T20I, Ireland shocked South Africa by winning the thrilling match by 10 runs to level the series at 1-1. The team led by Paul Stirling had a better performance in the match and posted a total of 195 for 6. It was openers Rose Adair (100) and Paul Stirling (52), who set the tone for a big score in Abu Dhabi. .
Defending the total, Ireland’s bowlers struggled against South Africa’s top 3 but after that, they made a stellar comeback in the match as the rest of the batsmen could only register single-digit scores. Mark Adair emerged as the top performer with his 4-wicket haul, while Graham Hume bagged 3 wickets.
