G. Arun
Thiruvananthapuram
For the fans who came to see the batting fireworks, the Greenfield stadium was not expecting wickets falling one by one. Those who came expecting sixes and fours, the meeting was to see the batsmen’s funeral. Curator’s evaluation layer on run flow pitch.
Those who believed the curator’s words that the run flow and the pitch were prepared were wrong. Rohit Sharma and India were helped by the ‘Kannam turn’ of the pitch during inspection. The observation of Themba Bavuma and South Africa to support the pitch spinners has failed. Those who frowned when Rohit won the toss and left South Africa to bat, “got it” by the time the first over was over.
India had a dream start. Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar asked all the South African batsmen to return to the dressing room while taking nine runs. Even 150 runs was difficult on this pitch. The first ball proved that the pitch has a bouncy surface that will help the pacers. The South African batsmen, who regularly faced swing and seam, also failed to understand the pitch. The pitch showed itself at the beginning of the Indian innings as well. Twenty20 cricket specialist Suryakumar Yadav continues his winning journey by creating records.
Surya recently acquired the reputation of being the Indian player who has scored the most runs in Twenty20 in a calendar year. Opener Shikhar Dhawan’s record of 689 runs scored in 2018 was corrected by Surya to 732. The star remained unbeaten with a half-century in the 1st Twenty20 against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram. The star is not far away from achieving 1000 runs in Twenty20. Surya’s strike rate this year is 180.29. His career total is 173.35 in 32 games. He hit a total of 57 sixes and 88 fours in his Twenty20 career.
Before the match against South Africa, the player was second in the ranking of Twenty20 batsmen. Surya has also achieved a new record through the match at the Greenfield Stadium. Suryakumar holds the record for most sixes in Twenty20 in a calendar year. Pakistan’s Muhammad Rizwan surpassed the record set in 2021. Surya hit three sixes in the match against South Africa. Suryakumar’s number of sixes has reached 45 this year. Rizwan’s record of 42 sixes has become a legend. New Zealand’s Martin Gupta, who scored 41 sixes in 2021, is second. Another record was acquired by Suryakumar through the competition. Although he did not take a wicket, off-spinner R. Ashwin bowled the best economy spell in his Twenty20 career. Ashwin conceded only eight runs in four overs. With an over maid. Ashwin’s overs kept South Africa from getting a high score. Ashwin was unable to find any significant spin in the first over and gained control in the later overs.