Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis praises Jasprit Bumrah for his match winning spell in the T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In the match where almost every bowler had an economy rate of more than nine runs per over in both innings, Jasprit Bumrah conceded only 33 runs in his four overs at an economy rate of 8.25 and took one wicket. His last two overs, the 16th and 18th of the innings, turned out to be the turning point of the match.
With England needing 69 runs from the last five overs, Bumrah gave away only 14 runs in his two overs. This later helped India win the match by just seven runs. It means that if Bumrah had conceded around 10 runs per over, India might have lost the match.
At that time, England had Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran at the crease. They did not try to attack Bumrah because they knew he was India’s main bowler and planned to target the other bowlers. But Bumrah bowled so well that England were left needing too many runs in the remaining overs.
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis praised Jasprit Bumrah while speaking on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut show. He said that Team India may not fully realise how fortunate they are to have a bowler like Bumrah. Du Plessis added that Bumrah has shown many times across formats that he can win matches whenever he is given the ball, something every captain would wish for in their team.
“Team India don’t understand how lucky they are to have him [Jasprit Bumrah] in their ranks. It is just proven time and time and time again, regardless of the format, you just give him the ball and he wins you games. It’s a superpower that any captain will dream of; it’s like having a genie, you just rub the lamp and out comes Bumrah,” Faf said.
“He has got value all over the innings when he bowls but the real superpower is the back-end when the game is on the line. And I thought today they used him perfectly; good captaincy, good leadership,” he added.
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The match turned out to be a run feast and a complete treat for the fans. It was a nail biting contest that kept everyone excited till the last over.
Batting first, India put up a huge total of 254/7 in 20 overs. Sanju Samson led the charge with a brilliant 89, while Ishan Kishan scored 39 and Shivam Dube added 43. Hardik Pandya played a quick knock of 27 and Tilak Varma chipped in with 21 to take the team to a massive score.
In reply, England also fought hard with the bat. Even though their top order did not perform well, they still managed to score 246/7 and fell short by just seven runs. Jacob Bethell played a stunning innings of 105, while Will Jacks scored 35. Jos Buttler, Sam Curran and Jofra Archer also contributed with small but useful cameos.
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