With the momentum shifting firmly towards the hosts, Virat Kohli applied a subtle bail-trick which came into the limelight earlier this year during Ashes 2023.
India needed a little bit of magic to break a promising partnership between Dean Elgar and Tony de Zorzi during the second session of Day 2 of the ongoing Test match against the Proteas in Centurion. With Dean Elgar playing a robust innings and De Zorzi acting as the anchor, South Africa recovered from an early jolt after bowling out India for 245 in their first innings.
Mohammed Siraj drew first blood for India when he dismissed opener Aiden Markram caught behind cheaply for 5. However, Elgar led a strong fightback hitting a steady fifty while adding 93 runs for the second wicket.
With the momentum shifting firmly towards the hosts, Virat Kohli applied a subtle bail-trick which came into the limelight earlier this year during Ashes 2023 in England. Kohli swapped the bails at the striker’s end just before the start of a fresh Jasprit Bumrah over in the second session.
Interestingly, the move worked as De Zorzi immediately got an outside edge to be caught behind by KL Rahul for a 62-ball 28. In his next over, Bumrah got the scalp of new batter Keegan Petersen as he dragged one onto the stumps to be bowled for 2 as the Rohit Sharma-led side picked up two wickets in quick succession.
‘Bail’ wizardry ft. our very own KING! 😆😁
Tune-in to Day 2 of the #SAvIND 1st Test
LIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/MYUeJ2WGTO— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 27, 2023
Legendary England pacer Stuart Broad made the trick famous in the Ashes earlier this year as Marnus Labushagne departed just one ball after Broad changed the bails in the Oval Test. Broad recreated the trick in the spell of his career to dismiss Todd Murphy too.
He later took to X (formerlyTwitter) to acknowledge the former India skipper’s effort with a cheeky post.
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With success @imVkohli ?! https://t.co/yKmPajb2sg
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) December 27, 2023
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