South Africa vs Sri Lanka: Imran Tahir celebrates victory mid-way through the super over

For the veteran South Africa spinner Imran Tahir, these are times to enjoy cricket to the hilt. The Pakistan-born leg-break bowler announced recently that he will quit from the ODIs after the upcoming World Cup and he is living every moment in the coloured jersey. On Tuesday, he was seen doing the same in the first T20I against Sri Lanka that the Proteas won in the super over.

After the game at Newlands in Cape Town ended in a tie with both Sri Lanka and South Africa scoring 134 runs in their allotted 20 overs, it came down to the super over. The home team then scored 14 runs, leaving the visitors with a target of 15 in six balls. It was Imran Tahir who was given the ball then and he did well to concede just four in four balls. The Lankans required 12 runs off the final two deliveries with Thisara Perera on strike.

Tahir’s unusual ‘yeah!’ celebrations

The 39-year-old then bowled a flighted delivery which turned away from the batsman and Perera missed his wild slog. The match went beyond Lanka’s reach with it and Imran Tahir was found highly celebrating the moment even as there was a ball left. He was heard shouting “yeah!” and punching in the air and after bowling wide ball, Tahir’s wild celebrations returned after he conceded one run in the final delivery.

The SA supporters were a bit surprised to see skipper Faf du Plessis tossing the ball over to the spinner to bowl the tie-breaking over but he came out with flying colours. He conceded just five runs in the over to help his team go 1-0 up in the three-match series. SA recently thrashed Sri Lanka 5-0 in a five-game series after the Asians pulled off a surprising 2-0 victory in the Test series.

Tahir had also bowled impressively in the match, giving just 21 runs from four overs and taking the wicket of the highest-scorer of the Sri Lankan innings, Kamindu Mendis (41). David Miller batted well for the South Africans as he slammed 14 runs in the super over after scoring a 23-ball 41 in the actual match.

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