South Africa’s Kwena Maphaka rebounded after a forgettable Indian Premier League debut last week, to claim his first wicket in a good outing for the 17-year-old for the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday.
Again tasked with opening the bowling against the Rajasthan Royals in Wankhede, Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) had swatted the left-arm quick for two consecutive fours before Maphaka had the batsman caught at cover to signal the celebrations.
Though he would only be entrusted with one more over in the match, as he ended with figures of 1/23 it was still an impressive outing for Maphaka who will celebrate his 18th birthday next week.
Ultimately it was part of a losing cause, MI’s opponents had no problem in chasing down the 126 set for victory as they took only 15.3 overs with just four wickets down. However, bowling second and trying to defend the modest total would have taken a superhuman effort.
Difficult debut
Just under a week ago, Maphaka had a difficult debut in the premier T20 competition in world cricket.
Though the Under-19 Proteas star made a solid start by conceding just seven runs with the first over of the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Travis Head got stuck into the young lad with two sixes and two fours in Maphaka’s second over.
From there, it was all downhill for Maphaka as he ended with figures of 0/66 in his four overs, meaning he went for 16.5 runs per over.
Though it was complete run-fest for the batsmen, the teenager’s performance drew comment from Proteas legend Dale Steyn as he said: “Maphaka realizing the difference between U19 and PRO league.
Baptism of fire.”
Many took exception to Steyn’s comments, and came out in support of the young talent.