Picture Credit: ICC
As South Africa clashed with West Indies in Dubai on Tuesday, it was always going to be a thrilling match with both sides desperate for a win to open their account in T20 World Cup 2021. Having suffered defeats in their first matches, it looked like the two teams had a proper plan in place for the opposition. While the defending champions targeted the South African spinners to hit some big blows, the Proteas' pacers bowled wide outside off to give batsmen no chance to hit through the line.
However, it was the plan of Temba Bavuma's side against Kieron Pollard which caught everyone's attention. The West Indies captain is known for hitting the ball straight over the bowler and many sides have put a fielder on the boundary ropes to stop him. But South Africa did something different as they placed a fielder inside the 30-yard circle straight behind the umpire.
Brilliant planning by South Africa to dismiss Pollard
Pollard did manage to hit the ball for a boundary in the 18th over of Pretorius as the ball narrowly went past Anrich Nortje, who was placed at that unorthodox fielding position. SA captain Temba Bavuma made a slight adjustment as he replaced Nortje with Rassie van der Dussen in that position and the change worked.
The 34-year-old ultimately did become a victim of South Africa's unorthodox plan in the final over of Pretorius as he hit the ball straight into the hands of Rassie van der Dussen, who outstandingly managed to keep his fingers underneath the ball. The third umpire eventually termed it as a legal catch after looking at various replays.
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Another hilarious part of the incident was the fact that umpire Aleem Dar showed brilliant reflexes to duck for his life twice, once when Pollard smashed the ball and secondly when van der Dussen threw the ball towards him after taking the catch. It all ended in laughs for the experienced campaigner who certainly did a brilliant job to prevent himself from getting injured.
