Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja became the second-ever Indian spinner to take two five-wicket hauls in ODI World Cup history after Yuvraj Singh’s five-fer in the 2011 World Cup.
Ravindra Jadeja returned with sensational figures of 5/33 in 9 overs against South Africa on Sunday in Kolkata, which helped India win by 243 runs and seal their position at the top of the World Cup 2023 points table.
Virat Kohli’s century and Shreyas Iyer’s 77, alongside quickfire knocks from Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja helped India post a total of 326, which was certainly above par on what Kohli described as a “tricky” pitch to bat on.
Then, the Indian bowlers got on a roll. Having dismissed Sri Lanka for 55 runs in the previous game, they routed South Africa, the second team on the points table, for only 83 runs, recording a massive win by 243 runs.
Ravindra Jadeja took some key wickets. He bowled the South African captain Temba Bavuma before dismissing South Africa’s dangerous finishers Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller. Ravindra Jadeja then got rid of tailenders Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj. Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets each.
Ravindra Jadeja’s heroics with the ball led to plenty of memes on Twitter.
Here are some memes and reactions on Ravindra Jadeja’s five-fer vs South Africa:
India captain Rohit Sharma said: “We let the instincts take over. We don’t preplan anything. We just assess and play accordingly. Jadeja has been very good for us. Playing in every format over the years. Today was a classical case as to what Jadeja is for us. Came out at the death and scored vital runs. Then picked up wickets. He knows his role and knows what the expectations from him. Not to get too ahead of ourselves has been the talk in the dressing room. Couple of big games coming up. We don’t want to change anything.”
