Kuldeep Yadav, India’s wrist-spinning savior, bowled a peach to take Glenn Maxwell’s important wicket against Australia in the 2024 T20 World Cup Super-Eights match in St. Lucia on Monday. The Australian was batting brilliantly, hitting two fours and a six in his first ten balls, but he had to return for 20 (12).
It occurred on the opening ball of the fourteenth over. Maxwell came down the crease to put the tweaker under strain, but Kuldeep Yadav’s keen awareness allowed him to decrease his length just enough. Maxwell swung through for a hoick, but the ball’s dip remained uncovered. It spun to beat his edge, rattling the stumps.
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This was the first time Kuldeep Yadav grabbed Maxwell’s wicket in T20Is. However, he has had tremendous success against him in ODIs as well, with five dismissals, four of which were bowled. Maxwell frequently uses hostility to compensate for his inability to read Kuldeep’s variations, which has proven ineffective.
Kuldeep Yadav’s wicket of Glenn Maxwell drags India back in the game
It was a game-changing moment. Maxwell and Travis Head had helped Australia comeback from 87/2 to 128/2. They were cruising in the chase, and with the exception of Kuldeep Yadav, every other Indian bowler was feeling the brunt of their aggression.
Following the wicket, the floodgates opened. Axar Patel got rid of Marcus Stoinis, while Jasprit Bumrah finally got some payback on Head.
Maxwell’s expulsion was Kuldeep’s second of the match. He earlier removed captain Mitchell Marsh at 37 (28). Then he grabbed an excellent catch at slips off Arshdeep Singh’s bowling off wicketkeeper-batsman Mathew Wade.
The tweaker’s performance enabled India to secure a position in the semi-finals against England on June 27. The destiny of Australia and Afghanistan now depends on what happens in the latter’s encounter against Bangladesh on Tuesday.
