He had just been clubbed for a four and six by Ben Stokes, but that didn’t result in Imran Tahir becoming “scared” of the imposing ginger-haired English all-rounder at Newlands.
The Proteas leg-spinner had already dismissed Alex Hales after the England opener’s miscued sweep went into the hands of JP Duminy – although Kagiso Rabada used a “no-arms” rugby tackle to take out his teammate.
So Tahir, despite having had a full toss dispatched through cover for four and a Stokes slog-sweep fly over midwicket for a maximum, wasn’t going to allow Stokes to intimidate him in the first T20 international on Friday night.
The 36-year-old tweaker tossed up a thing of beauty in cricketing terms – a well-flighted googly to a left-hander, in this case Stokes, who was left groping for the ball outside off as he had misread the delivery. The ball spun sharply away from the bat, causing Stokes to lose his balance, and his wicket as AB de Villiers showed off his sharp wicket-keeping skills by whipping off the bails.
It was such a wonderful piece of bowling that you could’ve been mistaken for thinking that it was Shane Warne at his best in a Test match some 20 years ago.
So, it may have been a moment lost in the T20 world of instant gratification, where the game moves on so quickly that what happens next is almost more important than what had occurred the ball before.
But asked by Independent Media about how much satisfaction he took out of the Stokes wicket, Tahir said: “Ja, it was nice to see because he hit me for six and four, and then obviously I got him out after that. It was so pleasing for me because I didn’t sit back and I wasn’t like scared… I didn’t hesitate to bowl him all the variations I have.
“So I actually did show him that ‘Look, I’ve got other balls as well’, and it was really pleasing for me.”
Known for his exuberant celebrations, what made Tahir even more excited was being on a hat trick after claiming the wickets of England captain Eoin Morgan and off-spinner Moeen Ali with successive deliveries. He almost squeezed the life out of his captain Faf du Plessis, who took the catch at short cover to get rid of Moeen, as it had been a planned move.
Tahir produced another ripping googly to Chris Jordan on the hat trick ball, which spun sharply through bat and pad. Tahir thought he had his man, but it missed the stumps and inside edge and Jordan survived.
What would’ve happened if Tahir had to get the wicket, we will never quite know. He certainly wouldn’t have just raised his arms and run to square leg again. “I’m not sure, I probably would’ve ended up in the crowd! But I’m not sure. You don’t get that every day, and the plan I had with the captain, I just bowled exactly towards that. And just somehow he (Chris Jordan) missed that ball.”
Du Plessis quipped “He would’ve run up the mountain!”, and added that the Pakistani-born leggie’s control was great, as he was able to turn the ball both ways. “He’s a fantastic bowler for us in T20 cricket in the last two years now, and he wins games of cricket on his own. As a captain, it’s a huge weapon to have,” the skipper said.
Tahir, though, had a rough time of it in the first half of the five-match ODI series against England, and appeared to lose that magical wicket-taking ability as he smashed for nearly seven runs per over on average in the first three games.
But he got his mojo back in the last two matches and equalled his career-best T20I figures of 4/21 in four overs at Newlands, which he said were predicted by his son. “My wife (Sumayya) asked my son, who is nearly two, Gibran – how many wickets is daddy going to take today? So he goes two, and plus two.
“I think every player goes through situations like that, but you need to be mentally strong. I am just grateful to be playing for such a good team – good bunch of guys and good management. I think they had the belief that I would do well, and they kept playing me,” Tahir said.
“It’s nice to see because obviously I never had two or three bad games for a while, and I didn’t want that to happen again. But I was mentally very strong and I knew I would get there, somehow.”
Why, though, does he run away from his teammates? “(The celebrations happen) probably because I waited very long to play international cricket, and obviously when I got there, I just don’t want to let it go. So that’s just in me because all the high patches (moments) comes into my mind every time I do well,” he said.
“I am just very grateful to Cricket South Africa and the people, all the love they provide for me. It was really pleasing that I played my part for the team, and that’s the most important thing for me.”
@IndyCapeSport