Proud of the way I held my nerves for the final over in Durban, states Tom Curran

Proud of the way I held my nerves for the final over in Durban, states Tom Curran

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All rounder Tom Curran recalls his nervy final over against South Africa in the second T20I where he defended five runs in three balls to help England keep the series alive. Sharing his thought process then, Tom conceded how he came with an idea of a slower ball after nailing a couple of yorkers.

Young all-rounder Tom Curran is aiming for only thing as he takes the field every time, let it be in England colours or otherwise, which is to get on the flight to Australia this October. He recalled the latest inclusion in his list of achievements in his short career, the nervy final over in Durban which helped England keep the T20 series alive as he looks forward to make a mark in the IPL.

Curran stepped up to defend 15 in the last over of the second T20I against South Africa before things went out of hand mid way when Dwaine Pretorius smashed a six and a four to bring the down the deficit to five off three deliveries. It was this crunch moment that the youngster held his nerve and nailed a couple of yorkers to seal a two-run victory for the three lions.

"That's cricket, it can go the other way very quickly. But that game was really big for me. At the start of the over I should have been defending it anyway but, with three balls to go, they were on top. So looking back on it, I was really proud of that. The fact that, in that moment, I had no choice but to execute and I managed to do so," Curran was quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.

Curran recalled that when the English think tank - skipper Eoin Morgan, Vice captain Jos Butler and veteran Chris Jordan - came together to calculate the final delivery after a couple of excellent yorkers, it was him who came up with the idea of a slower delivery. He bowled a back of the hand delivery with new man Bjorn Fortuin on strike who could do nothing but flick it straight to short fine leg.

"I was weighing up the options. I'd just bowled two good yorkers, so if he tries to stand there and whack it, if it's on the money then a yorker is still a good option. But I just thought a slower ball, he actually has to hit it for four, whereas a yorker you can still nick it for four. I just went with my gut really, and when I said that to Morgs and Jos, everyone was like 'cool, let's go with it'. Luckily it came off," the bowler concluded.

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