India's horror start against South Africa goes from bad to worse as Hardik Pandya was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi thanks to a blistering catch by fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. The Delhi Capitals pacer was stationed at fine leg and lunged ahead to send back Pandya after just two runs in three balls.
The Men in Blue were under pressure from the get-go as Wayne Parnell bowled a maiden in the first over of the game. After that, it was the Lungi Ngidi show as he dismissed the entire Indian top three and then also got Hardik Pandya out. After this difficult start, Suryakumar Yadav guided the Indians to a respectable score of 133.
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In the mid-innings show, the star of the show, Lungi Ngidi was asked about his and the team's performance. The 26-year-old talked about how he focused on his bowling length which helped pick the early wickets.
He said, "I think against a team like India, you need to dismiss them to a low total, early wickets were the key for us. The height worked in our favour, some bounced a bit, it was always expected at Perth though and I'm really happy with our lengths."
He further addressed how the plan was to cramp the batters and the bowling unit followed through on the plan leading to a successful first inning.
He said, "We knew they (Indian batters) wanted to make most of our pace, so we wanted to keep it tight and tuck them down for room, perhaps one or two got away. Pretty happy with this chase and I think we can get it if we bat well."