Kuldeep Yadav picked up two quick wickets of Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson in the Champions Trophy final. First, he bamboozled Ravindra with a googly, followed by a miscalculated shot by Williamson, which was easily caught by Kuldeep.
Star spinner Kuldeep Yadav was subjected to immense criticism after failing to clinch a wicket in the Champions Trophy semi-final clash against Australia. On top of that, captain Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli were extremely upset with Kuldeep’s lack of effort on the field and even hurled abuses at the cricketer, which went viral on the internet.
However, on the night of the final against New Zealand, the left-arm wrist-spinner wreaked havoc, picking up the wicket of Rachin Ravindra in his first ball. The Kiwi opener had a terrific start to the match, scoring 37 runs off 29 balls. He kept the scoreboard ticking, which built a bit of pressure on the Indian team.
However, in the 11th over of the match, Kuldeep bowled a googly, which Ravindra failed to decipher as it broke his defence and hit his back leg pad and went on to crush the stumps. The 30-year-old was elated with the dismissal and celebrated with a jump and fist in the air while keeper KL Rahul chased to celebrate with him.
Kuldeep gets Williamson in his second over
Kuldeep also picked up the prized wicket of Kane Williamson in his second over. The former captain had a measured start to his innings but eventually, departed after scoring 11 runs off 14 balls. Williamson attempted to just push the ball but the ball hit the middle of his bat and went straight to Kuldeep, who completed a simple catch. With that, the Black Caps were reduced to 75/3.
Back-to-back wickets from the spinner brought India back into the contest. Varun Chakravarthy picked up the wicket of Will Young earlier in the match as New Zealand now have the pressure to build the innings well to post a dependable total on the board. India meanwhile would be hoping to clinch a couple of more wickets to push New Zealand out of the contest.
