Joburg Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis has revealed that his advice to Wiaan Mulder while bowling the final over of the game against the Durban Super Giants was inspired by former India captain MS Dhoni’s
run-out of Mahmudullah during the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Wicketkeeper Donovan Ferreira ran out Eathan Bosch off the final delivery of regulation to ensure the scores remained level.
Put into bat first, the Kings posted a whopping 205/4 batting first, riding on Matthew de Villiers’ 38, Du Plessis’ 47, Shubham Ranjane’s half-century and Ferreira’s 33.
In the chase, the Giants found themselves at 61/3 in the eighth over, before skipper Aiden Markram and wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen added 47 runs for the fourth wicket. After the latter was dismissed by Ferreira, Markram and Evan Jones added 60 runs for the fifth wicket.
After Markram was dismissed by Richard Gleeson, there were no more partnerships, but Simon Harmer and Bosch ensured that the match went down to the wire.
Needing just one off the final delivery, Ferreira was alert and prepared, already with one glove off, as he nailed a perfect direct hit to force the game into a Super Over.
“I remember there was a game a long time ago, when MS Dhoni was standing behind the stumps for India. I think it was against Bangladesh in a World Cup and I remember the guy bowling almost like a cut ball across him,” du Plessis said while speaking at the post-match presentation.
“So, I just told him (Mulder), just go short, across him and hopefully we get a wicket. I wasn’t banking on a run out. So, we are bowling for run outs now,” du Plessis added.
Ferreira (33*), along with Richard Gleeson (3/41), starred for the Kings as they defeated the Giants in the first-ever Super Over finish of a high-scoring SA20 thriller to go top of the points table.
