Arshdeep Singh emerged as the pick of all the India bowlers in the 3rd T20I against South Africa on Wednesday (November 13) at SuperSport Park in Centurion as he claimed figures of 3/37. Arshdeep accounted for Ryan Rickelton, Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen to help India register an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
The wickets of Klaasen and Jansen turned the game on its head as India managed to defend their total of 219 on a batting deck. Klaasen (41 runs off 22 balls) smashed a boundary and four maximums before Suryakumar Yadav reintroduced Arshdeep into the attack. Cognizant of the true nature of the surface and how pace on the ball was making the job easier for the batters, Arshdeep bowled a slower one and landed it wide off the off-stump.
Klaasen fell for the trap and miscued it while trying to go inside out. He ended up slicing the ball and Tilak Varma, who was manning the deep cover fence made no mistake.
However, Arshdeep’s biggest wicket of the evening came in the form of a set Marco Jansen. The South African allrounder batted like a dream and inflicted carnage on the Indian bowling attack before Arshdeep pinned him in front of his stumps.
Arshdeep bowled a fuller delivery into Jansen’s pads and he played all over it. The on-field umpire said no to India’s polite enquiry but Arshdeep convinced his skipper to go for the DRS (Decision Review System). The replay confirmed that there was no bat involved and the ball would have cannoned into Jansen’s stumps after pitching in-line.
Jansen (54 off 17 deliveries) was forced to make the long walk back to the dressing room and India clinched the hard-fought encounter.
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Notably, Arshdeep surpassed Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the process on the all-time leading wicket-takers list for India in T20Is. He, now, has the second-most number of wickets (92) by an Indian in T20Is.
Arshdeep is only behind Yuzvendra Chahal (96 wickets) who is the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is.
