Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged three wickets within the powerplay to push South Africa on the backfoot early in their 149-run chase in the second T20I in Cuttack on Sunday, June 9.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar might not have had the best of starts to the international season, having returned 1/43 in a seven wicket defeat in the first T20I against South Africa in Delhi, but he reminded everyone of his class with a sensational opening burst in the second game in Cuttack.
The right-arm seamer had conceded just seven while dismissing Temba Bavuma in his new-ball spell in Delhi on Thursday, before being taken apart by Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller in what turned out to be the game defining partnership. On Sunday, he found swing and seam with the new ball on a pitch offering low bounce, and that was enough to cause the damage.
The first of his victims was Reeza Hendricks, who was beaten on an inside edge by a sharp good length inswinger. The ball hit his back pad and clattered the stumps to send the opener back for four. Dwaine Pretorius, who’d tonked 29 off 13 in Delhi, started off with a boundary early on, but was holed out to Avesh Khan at deep square leg for a mistimed hoick off Bhuvneshwar.
The next in his sights was van der Dussen, who, like he did in Delhi, endured a slow start with just a single off his first six balls, before being sent back on the seventh. Bhuvneshwar bowled a back-of-a-length ball coming in, and the right-hander played down the wrong line while being stuck in his crease, as the ball skidded through to hit the top of off.
Bhuvneshwar returned 3/10 from his first three overs, before Bavuma and Heinrich Klaasen began the resurrection for the Proteas.
Watch the two times he clean bowled the batters here:
Earlier, Dinesh Karthik’s provided the finishing touches with a brisk 21*-ball 30 to help India finish 148/6 after being put in to bat. Shreyas Iyer top scored with 40 off 35, while Ishan Kishan smashed 34 off 21.
Anrich Nortje bagged 2/36 for the visitors, while Kagiso Rabada returned 1/15 on an evening which saw him complete 50 T20I wickets.
