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AB de Villiers turned back the clock with a stunning fielding effort to get rid of Yusuf Pathan during a veterans’ T20 tournament.
AB de Villiers keeps the ball in play before relaying it to his teammate for a brilliant catch. (Screengrab/FanCode)
He may have retired from competitive cricket for four years now but AB de Villiers hasn’t forgotten how to bat or to field. Then 41-year-old was in the thick of action during a veterans’ T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Northampton as his stunning performance propelled his team to a big win.
De Villiers won player-of-the-match award as South Africa Champions swept aside India Champions by 88 runs at the County Ground on Tuesday. Chasing 209, India managed 111/9.
The highlight of the contest was De Villiers’ stunning effort in the deep after Indian batter Yusuf Pathan launched a delivery from Imran Tahir towards wide long-off. The ball was seemingly headed for a boundary before being intercepted by an athletic De Villiers who ran across and grabbed the ball while sliding and relayed the ball towards his teammate Sarel Erwee before making contact with the boundary cushions.
Erwee then dived and caught the ball completing a brilliant relay catch.
The third umpire was summoned to check if De Villiers had touched the cushions with the ball in his hands. However, he had managed to lob the ball towards his teammate in time and Pathan was adjudged out for run-a-ball 5.
India Begin Campaign With Defeat
Defending champions India have started their campaign with a big defeat. Their opening clash against Pakistan was cancelled with prominent stars like Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina withdrawing their names citing geopolitical tensions.
Captain De Villiers led South Africa Champions from the front with a blistering half-century. He struck 30-ball 63 with the help of three fours and four sixes while JJ Smuts (30 off 17) and Morne van Wyk (18* off 5) provided the late flourish to propel South Africa to 208/6 in 20 overs.
India, led by Yuvraj Singh, suffered a batting collapse as they lost as many as four wickets inside the Powerplay itself. Stuart Binny was the only batter who managed a score of some significance, hitting 37 off 39 as Aaron Phangiso (3/17) led a superb bowling effort to limit India to 111/9.
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital…Read More
Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience in digital… Read More
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