It was during the chase in the second T20I against India that Tristan Stubbs revealed his secret of how he remained unfazed during the tense chase. The trick for him lay in managing to keep himself calm. And the fact that South Africa won a thrilling victory at his “favorite place” Gqeberha by controlling his breathing.
Once the set finishers, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen fell. It was the turn of youngsters Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee to raise their game as the series was leveled at 1-1. While wickets kept falling at the other end, Stubbs remained steadfast, knowing when to accelerate. Coetzee had earlier set the tone with a monstrous 103-meter six that got the chase underway.
It was his mum’s birthday, and there were only 20 or 30 spectators to watch at St George’s Park, but Stubbs never lost focus as he finished unbeaten on 47*. And guided his country to a narrow three-wicket win to square up the series.
“It’s always just two hits away from being back to run-a-ball in cricket,” Stubbs said afterward. “I just tried to breathe and stay calm. It was my mom’s birthday, and people were watching. This is my favorite place to play.”
He was replacing Varun Chakaravarthy who, earlier in the match, was at his spinning best getting rid of Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, and David Miller to reduce South Africa to 88/7 while chasing 125. Ravi Bishnoi also sent Andile Simelane back.
Coetzee, however, provided some impetus to South Africa’s chase. Still in a sticky position- three wickets in hand- he told Stubbs, “We can win this.” “The run rate was never a concern, but I was nervous,” said Stubbs. “So, I did some breathing to calm myself.”
With 13 runs required off two overs, Stubbs took over. He whacked consecutive fours off Arshdeep Singh in the penultimate over to bring South Africa back into the game. Two more fours in the final over sealed an exciting three-wicket win. The all-rounder was awarded Player of the Match and will be looking to carry the same form into the third T20I.
ANI