SA vs AFG | Imran Tahir’s “googly” comeback and Chris Morris’ exhibition of pace bowling

06/16/2019

After South African bowlers put up a terrific bowling display to bundle Afghanistan out for 125, Quinton de Kock played with grit to hand the Asian nation a nine-wicket loss. More than anything else, the way Imran Tahir brought the googly back to the fore was the biggest takeaway from the game.

Googly is back, so is Imran Tahir

Imran Tahir has a propensity of bowling more googlies than conventional leg-spin and that is one of the major reasons for his success at the international and franchise level. Trace your mind back to IPL 2019 where his googlies became Chennai Super Kings’ primary weapon in the powerplay and how effectively he used the angle to create problems for Kolkata Knight Riders on a completely unresponsive wicket of Eden. This World Cup hadn’t been kind to the leg-spinner, who had already announced to call it a day from ODI cricket following it, but today, the narrative flipped and Tahir returned to do what he does best - sprint celebration in Cardiff and for a moment, it seemed like he would cross the Sophia Gardens to reach the Millenium Stadium where Manchester United and AC Milan are supposed to play a pre-season friendly in August.

As per the data incurred through ESPNCricinfo, just 21% of the deliveries he had bowled in the tournament before today’s game were googlies, which is 12% less than his corresponding figure for this year. The most plausible explanation for the same could be the fact that the wicket has been more pacer-friendly and the atmospheric conditions hardly allowed him to spin the ball by rotating the fingers. That culminated to batsmen scoring at 5.8 to the over against googly. Just to put things in context, he had taken five wickets in seven innings at an average of 13.6 with the delivery.

However, Tahir corrected the wrongs at Cardiff and despite the odds being firmly stacked against him - thanks to the regular intervention of rain gods - and ended up being the most effective bowler for South Africa, picking up four wickets for 29 runs. The googlies became the most important weapon for the South African and the drift that he found ensured that his last spell became as devastating as it could get.

Template for Faf du Plessis to use Chris Morris properly

Chris Morris is a paradox in South African cricket and nobody really knows how to use him. I may stick my neck out and say, Morris doesn’t even know his potential or how effective he can become if he manages to pull together the little mental block that he has had. Today, however, was a day of validation for the Transvaal all-rounder. To get my point across, I decided to crunch some data from the ever-so-generous Cricinfo, and it suggests Morris is one of the better death bowlers in world cricket, averaging in the low 20s at a strike rate of 17.

With one area being sorted, South Africa had the challenge of extracting those 4-5 odd overs in the powerplay and middle overs, which would effectively mean more freedom for other pacers. But the problem is that it was never the case. Morris averages 46.3 runs in the first 40 overs of the innings while striking above 50. It was exactly those numbers which made South Africans wonder at times and the selectors sit on their couch and think - Is there an end to this frustration?

Well, that was answered in the affirmative - well, time will only tell how long will that wait - and Morris put up an exhibition of fast bowling that was very rare to see with him. When he came as the second change bowler in the 12th over, he was able to move the ball through the air and off the track while more illustrious names like Kagiso Rabada and Andile Pheluwkyo struggled to do in the beginning. The fact of the matter was Morris did one thing right that he rarely allowed himself to do - kept a constant line and length and instead of trying to go through the over, he bowled with panache and a plan. By landing the ball in the mini rough and the grassy areas of the wicket, Morris successfully left the Afghans trying to find their way out.

Hazratullah Zazai and the need of grit

Hamid Hassan is a hero in Afghanistan cricket. So was Shapoor Zadran, as are Mohammed Shahzad and Mohammed Nabi. In a war-torn country, they became the pioneer and their cult status have been rightfully elevated to a level, where a kid now dreams to meet them, wants to be like them. Rashid Khan was not a member of that elite group, who became the first batch of superstars in Afghan cricket, but his performances have quickly made him the most recognizable Afghan cricketer in the world.

Then, where will Hazratullah Zazai stand in the sands of time when the history of Afghan cricket will be written? Well, he will be right up there for his 162-run innings against Ireland in T20s, but will there be a paragraph on him while discussing their ODI cricket sojourn? What allies him from performing in ODIs when he knows how to bat in white-ball cricket? The answer can never be a linear one.

The rush of blood coupled with the T20 mindset of not letting the bowler boss around has been Zazai’s biggest ally so far. He plays some gorgeous drives and his off-side play is splendid but the knack of playing one shot too many has been his kryptonite. While Noor Ali Zardan, more experienced with lesser ability, is showing the grit to grind it out - no matter the eventual result - Zazai can take a leaf out of his book. He needs to understand there is nothing called "natural game" and the adaptability factor determines the legacy of great players.