Looking forward for the challenges against Australia: Imran Tahir

Tri-series is getting interesting as the race to the top two spots in the points table is getting tougher after each passing contest. South Africa, after losing their last game pretty badly to the Australians, came back harder and ransacked the hosts West Indies by 139 runs to climb up to the top of the points table. Windies decision to bowl first after winning the toss proved to be lethal for them as the South Africa posted a massive 343/4 in the first innings with the help of Hashim Amla’s record-breaking century (110) and half-centuries from Quinton de Kock (71) and Faf du Plessis (73). Imran Tahir then produced a rollicking performance with the ball as the Proteas knocked over the hosts for just 204 in 38 overs, winning the game by 139 runs.

Winning skipper AB de Villiers praised Imran Tahir and his energetic bowling partner Tabraiz Shamsi for their wonderful show. Ab de Villiers said: “I wasn’t too unhappy with batting first. We got a lot of talent in our top 4. We played well but still there are a lot of areas we need to improve. With the kind of potential we’ve got it’s disappointing to lose a few games in the initial stages of the tournament. It’s really tough to pick both of them, Imran bowled really well and Shamsi with his energy was terrific. We would like to win both games but our focus will be on the game against Australia on 19th.”

Jason Holder accepted that his troops were lacklustre today. Jason Holder: “Obviously it’s disappointing. South Africa really outplayed us today. We leaked too many runs in the final few overs and credit to Hashim Amla on playing a superb knock. We were a bit lackadaisical in the field. People in Barbados love cricket and hopefully they will get some entertaining cricket.”

Imran Tahir was on song last night. He bowled a dream spell of 7/45 to rattle the opposition completely. During his dream spell, he also became the quickest South African to seal 100 ODI wickets. The outstanding figures were also the best ODI figures by a South Africa. Imran Tahir clinched the Man of the Match award for his performance. Imran Tahir said: “Really pleased. My wife reminded me about it (talking about his record – Quickest SA player to 100 ODI wkts). I didn’t know about it to be honest. Boys really did well with the bat and gave us a chance to put pressure with the ball. I think we’ve been playing good cricket and the boys have been working hard. That’s what we showed today. Being on the winning side always feels happy. Shamsi is a very good talent. He is a brother to me, we played together for few years. I never played at Barbados, but I’ve heard that it’s a good batting track. Looking forward to the challenges against Australia and West Indies.