London: After self-confessed ‘struggles’ on the opening day of the World Test Championship Final against Australia, South Africa’s 29-year-old Lungi Ngidi opens up about his devastating second innings spell at Lord’s.
Nothing could contain Lungi Ngidi on the second day of the World Test Championship decider.
Least of all, himself, as he exploded with adrenalin, removing danger man Beau Webster to expose Australia's tail. That was the second of three critical wickets that have helped give South Africa renewed hope in the Ultimate Test, heading into the third day. The Aussies got to stumps at 144/8 and 218 runs ahead.
But no Day 2 wicket was bigger than his first, trapping Steve Smith lbw for 13.
When reflecting on the day's play, Ngidi admitted it may well be the biggest wicket he's ever taken.
“I think because of the stage that we’re playing on, that’s probably the best wicket I could’ve gotten," he told ICC Digital.
“Having struggled a bit in the first innings and then to be able to get that wicket, at that stage, it probably ranks very high up there for me. I can’t put into words how I felt about taking that wicket. Such a relief,” Ngidi said.
Ngidi's first innings efforts were overshadowed by teammates Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen's efforts, who between them picked up eight of the 10 wickets. Ngidi settled for figures of 0/45 from his eight overs.
“I probably tried to do too much, too early, ended up leaking runs, putting yourself under pressure and then you’re chasing the game from there," he added.
“I was putting a bit of pressure on myself. Bowling in the first innings, seeing the guys that have gone ahead, they’ve performed so well, taken wickets, you want to carry on that momentum," Ngidi said.
“With Test cricket, you’ve got two chances as a bowler. The coach said, ‘just go play your game, don’t worry about anything that has gone on before, it’s your moment now, when you get the ball, just make it count," he said.
But South Africa could barely have asked for a better response from their thoughful right-armer, who patiently executed a plan that duly paid off.
“First innings probably didn’t go as planned, so once I got a bit of rhythm from the other end, and I could feel that I was putting the ball in the right areas and there was still a bit of assistance in the wicket, I felt like that would probably be the dismissal, trying to set that up," he continued.
"And then, yeah, got it spot on, so very happy about that. It definitely (meant a lot)," Ngidi said.
“(We’re) excited about the position that we’re in,” he added.