Jasprit Bumrah picked up his first wickets inside the mandatory powerplay overs in two years and seven months – 925 days to be precise. Before this, the last wicket which Bumrah picked inside the first powerplay of an ODI was during the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup where he had got the better of New Zealand opener Martin Guptill.
Meanwhile, Bumrah had bowled 233 balls and conceded 170 runs inside the powerplay overs before getting South African opener Janneman Malan for six runs at Boland Park, Paarl on Wednesday (January 19). The 28-year-old India pacer had played nine ODIs between the semi-final game in Manchester and Paarl, picking up six wickets.
The home team captain Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bat. Bumrah gave his team the perfect start with the wicket of Malan in the third over. This was Bumrah’s 109th wicket. Before the 1st ODI of the three-ODI series, Malan averaged more than 80 in ODIs. However, his early dismissal to Bumrah bought it down to 68.
Bumrah bowled the first over of the match, which was messy to say the least. He bowled a wide and a couple of high full-tosses to begin proceedings for India before coming back strong in his next over. South Africa, who were dealt an early blow, were steadied by Quinton de Kock and Bavuma, who took the score past 50.
Later, Bumrah also got the major breakthrough by removing skipper Bavuma in the penultimate over. He scored 110 runs from 143 deliveries. Bumrah conceded 48 runs and took two quick wickets in his quota of 10 overs.
India's vice-captain for the South Africa ODIs, Bumrah, in a recent press conference, explained that although he does not have any specific role assigned to him, being one of the senior members of the side, he does see himself playing a bigger role in India's leadership group.
"When I was new, I used to ask a lot of questions to seniors. Now I am in a transition phase and when youngsters ask me something, I try to share my experience with them. Sometimes their inputs can help me as well. We try to make sure such communication is always there in the team because sometimes someone new can have some observation from outside which you cannot have from inside," Bumrah had said.
