It needed confirmation from the umpires. Having just hit Marco Jansen for a classy six in the seventh over of the India vs South Africa, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match at Eden Gardens, Shubman Gill was certainly in no mood to leave the crease. But he was already on his haunches, rattled and trying the accept what had just happened. At the opposite end of the 22-yard pitch, Keshav Maharaj quietly offered a prayer to the Almighty, for the South African spinner knew he owned something more than a wicket. (Match Blog | Streaming | Scorecard | Key Battles)
And the reaffirmation came from none other than the International Cricket Council (ICC). Soon after Gill's dismissal, the sport's global body shared a video of the wicket on social media with a not-so-surreptitious caption, which read: "Ball of the tournament from Keshav Maharaj?" Relive the moment here:
How It Happened
In the 11th over, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma introduced Keshav Maharaj into the attack. Birthday boy Virat Kohli took a single off the first, then a dot to Shubmal Gill. A wide followed with the ball sliding down leg. Then the left-arm orthodox bowler produced a magical delivery to stun the packed Eden Gardens crowd.
A tossed-up delivery, a little slower than expected, and it turned from outside leg. Gill, prodding forward, did offer the full face of the bat in defence. But the ball turned just enough to beat the edge and ended up clipping the top of the off stump. Gill, in utter disbelief, waited for confirmation from the officials. Replays, and in slow motion, only accentuated the beauty of the delivery. Gill made 23 off 24.
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in the clash of two top teams. Rohit gave the hosts a flying start, hitting 40 off 24, laced with six fours and two sixes. Despite the fall of both openers, and also Shreyas Iyer, India were motoring along rather nicely with Kohli and KL Rahul in the middle -- 239/3 in 40 overs.
Both India and South Africa have already qualified for the semi-finals.
