Imran Tahir picked up a wicket in the first over of the match. (Reuters)Imran Tahir has become the first spinner in the history of the World Cup to bowl the first ball of the tournament. After electing to bowl against England in the opening match at The Oval, South African surprised everyone by bringing in Tahir to bowl the first over.
Imran Tahir is off and running. He becomes the first spinner EVER to deliver the first ball in a World Cup and he dismissed Jonny Bairstow for a GOLDEN DUCK.#CWC2019 #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/ZFm4rSv6pw
— Harry Potter (@Zaidabdulrauf) 30 May 2019
Tahir obliged his skipper with a stunner dismissing Jonny Bairstow on the second delivery, leaving the hosts stunned. Bairstow failed to read Tahir’s good length delivery and moved forward to defend edging the ball. Quinton de Kock made no mistake as Bairstow departed for a golden duck.
Plessis’s tactic of introducing a spinner for the first over reminds of New Zealand’s great Martin Crowe who unleashed a big surprise in the 1992 edition of the quadrennial event by bringing off-spinner Dipak Patel into the attack in the second over.
Patel bowled the second over in Australia vs New Zealand clash that the Kiwis won by 37 runs.
In 2011 World Cup, MS Dhoni also brought in R Ashwin early against Australia in the semifinal.
