The English left-arm pacer went close to the face of the dismissed batter and gave him an ugly send-off, which came out looking completely unnecessary.
Usually a calm and composed cricketer, Sam Curran suddenly lost his cool and gave South African skipper Temba Bavuma an animated send-off during the second ODI of the ongoing three-match series in Bloemfontein on Sunday (January 29).
The English allrounder was seen shouting at Bavuma upon dismissing him after he conjured up a brilliant century for the Proteas. As Bavuma shaped up to play a lofted shot through the vacant deep-third region, he was done in by a cutter from the left-arm pacer and managed to only hit the ball at his stumps.
Immediately after the dismissal, Sam Curran started running towards a disappointed Bavuma and gave him a mouthful of yells and shouts, right in the face of the batter, which happens to be a breach of the ICC code of conduct.
It was unnecessary since Bavuma had already been dismissed and there was no point rubbing it onto him. But the England pacer not only ran towards the face of the batter but also yelled at him in a provocative manner.
The animated celebration was seen at the start of the 28th over after Bavuma had played one of his very best knocks for South Africa, setting the foundation to their humoungous chase of 348 with a brilliant century. Bavuma erred in his attempt to swept the ball past the wicketkeeper by creating room for him to the off-side.
Following him and cramping him for room with a slower ball, Curran managed to nullify his stroke and got him to miscue the shot onto his stumps. The dismissal gave England the much-needed breakthrough, especially as it involved the ominous-looking Bavuma.
Watch: Naseem Shah cleans up Shai Hope’s stumps with searing 148kph yorker
For anyone who’s looking for Sam Curran’s celebration video#SAvsENG pic.twitter.com/jli356LqMO
— Delhi Capitals Fan (@pantiyerfc) January 29, 2023
But the matter wasn’t over there, as Curran decided to give the opposition player an ugly send-off right into the face of Bavuma, almost provocating the batter to react.
But the ever well-behaved South African captain didn’t respond to Curran’s angry jeering and let the matter go by simply walking off his ground, knowing that he had done his job with a superb century to his team’s cause.
