Ishan Kishan went into beast mode at the sight of Anrich Nortje and smashed the South African bowler away in Ranchi.
Ishan Kishan maybe a young talent that attracts doubts over his range from certain corners but the left-hander enjoys a big-name match-up against South Africa’s premier speedster Anrich Nortje.
Mumbai Indians (MI) batter has relished his time out in the middle against Nortje. In all cricket that Kishan has faced the right-arm pacer, he has smashed him away for a whopping 77 runs from 39 deliveries, including 14 boundaries.
Come Sunday (October 9) in Ranchi, playing the penultimate game of the three-match ODI series against South Africa, Ishan Kishan reinforced wood over Nortje once again and hit the famed express quick for a flurry of boundaries.
At one point during his knock, the Jharkhand lad hammered Nortje for two back-to-back sixes, before putting the cherry on the cake for the over with a four off his willow, on his way to scoring a match-winning 93 in a stiff run-chase on a dry wicket.
The combination of 6, 6 and 4 off Ishan Kishan’s bat against Anrich Nortje was seen during the 32nd over of the Indian second-innings batting effort in Ranchi. With the chase approaching a critical stage, Kishan decided to put all the pressure on South Africa by dispatching one of their premier bowlers for a series of big hits.
The first one would’ve been the biggest confidence booster for the left-hander. Kishan cited a short-pitched delivery from Nortje early and gave it a full monte towards the deep mid-wicket region, fetching in a maximum that shifted all the pressure on the bowler.
B. O. O. M! ⚡️ ⚡️@ishankishan51 went aerial & did that with some might! 💪 💪 #TeamIndia
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— BCCI (@BCCI) October 9, 2022
That pressure resulted in Nortje attempting a yorker rather than sticking to his strengths at back off a length region, which only helped Kishan dind the mid-wicket boundary again. The left-hander got underneath the full-pitched delivery and smashed it away for another maximum.
He rounded off the over with a boundary, making it a 16-run over that dented the Proteas’ spirits and gave India momentum and ascendancy. Kishan went on to make a terrific 93, missing out on his maiden ODI century by just seven runs.