The opening match of the World Cup 2019 between host England and South Africa surprised one and all when spinner Imran Tahir was given the new ball to bowl the first over of the tournament, reports the Times Of India.
That made him the first spinner in World Cup history to open proceedings.
In the 1992 World Cup, New Zealand off-spinner Dipak Patel had bowled the second over during a match against Australia.
Tahir also justified his skipper Faf du Plessis’ decision as he struck off the second delivery to dismiss opener Jonny Bairstow for a duck, and what followed next was his trademark celebration of running across the field.
MATCH 1
ENGLAND INNINGS R B
Roy c Du Plessis b Phehlukwayo 54 53
Bairstow c De Kock b Tahir 0 1
Root c Duminy b Rabada 51 59
Morgan c Markram b Tahir 57 60
Stokes c Amla b Ngidi 89 79
Buttler b Ngidi 18 16
Moeen c Du Plessis b Ngidi 3 9
Woakes c Du Plessis b Rabada 13 14
Plunkett not out 9 6
Archer not out 7 3
Extras (lb 2, w 8) 10
Total (50 Overs) 311/8
Fall Of Wickets
1-1 (Bairstow), 2-107 (Roy), 3-111 (Root), 4-217 (Morgan), 5-247 (Buttler), 6-260 (Moeen), 7-285 (Woakes), 8-300 (Stokes)
Bowling
Tahir 10-0-61-2, Ngidi 10-0-66-3, Rabada 10-0-66-2, Pretorius 7-0-42-0, Phehlukwayo 8-0-44-1, Duminy 2-0-14-0, Markram 3-0-16-0
SOUTH AFRICA INNINGS R B
De Kock c Root b Plunkett 68 74
Amla c Buttler b Plunkett 13 23
Markram c Root b Archer 11 12
Du Plessis c Moeen b Archer 5 7
Van der Dussen c Moeen b Archer 50 61
Duminy c Stokes b Ali 8 11
Pretorius run out (Stokes/Morgan) 1 1
Phehlukwayo c Stokes b Rashid 24 25
Rabada c Plunkett b Stokes 11 19
Ngidi not out 6 5
Tahir c Root b Stokes 0 1
Extras (b 4, lb 5, w 1) 10
Total (39.5 Overs) 207 all out
Fall Of Wickets
1-36 (Markram), 2-44 (Du Plessis), 3-129 (De Kock), 4-142 (Duminy), 5-144 (Pretorius), 6-167 (Van der Dussen), 7-180 (Phehlukwayo), 8-193 (Amla), 9-207 (Rabada), 10-207 (Tahir)
Bowling
Woakes 5-0-24-0, Archer 7-1-27-3, Rashid 8-0-35-1, Moeen 10-0-63-1, Plunkett 7-0-37-2, Stokes 2.5-0-12-2
England won by 104 runs
MoM: Ben Stokes
