“He’s picked in like an apple from a tree,” was one of the on-air comments when South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen picked up a fantastic catch at short leg in the 2nd Test between South Africa and India. If you remember, the visitors won the 1st Test by 113 runs and the action moved to The Wanderers in Johannesburg where Day 1 began earlier today.
Batting first, India lost a few early wickets and the score was ticking along slowly. However, it looked like the new captain KL Rahul and Virat Kohli replacement Hanuma Vihari were settling in to build a partnership. This was only until Kagiso Rabada bowled one into Vihari’s body and while the latter trying to fend it away, he ended up ballooning it to the short leg fielder.
Rassie van der Dussen catch at short leg
They called him one of the biggest short legs ever seen because he’s like 6 feet and 3 inches tall and you usually see the short and nimble ones at this fielding position. What’s better is that he was a point of discussion from morning as a few chances went his way but van der Dussen could barely lay his hand on anything.
Just before the wicket fell, he managed to field one at that position and he got some cheers from the commentary box. A few minutes later, he was in action once again, this time playing a big role in effecting a dismissal. Rabada aimed one at Vihari’s ribs and what a fantastic catch that was by RVD, taking a one-handed blinder.
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He dived to his left and stuck out a hand, and managed to hold on. Rabada let out a loud roar and the team would’ve been relieved as there was a dropped catch not too long ago. India stumbled to 91/4 in the second session on Day 1 with this wicket and the hosts were right in the game at the time of the dismissal.
Once India is bundled out though, that’s when Dussen’s real job as a batsman in this team will begin. India will wrap up the series if they win this Test match at The Wanderers, so the SA batting lineup will have a big role to play. RVD has been one of the most consistent batsman for them across formats in the last two years and there will be loads of responsibility on him to score runs.
That @Rassie72 catch 😍 #SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/TKXjau1YkZ
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 3, 2022
His role becomes that much more important given that the hosts don’t have a lot of experienced heads int he side anymore. After the 1st Test, they received another jolt as wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock ended up retiring from Test cricket as well, only 29 years old these days.
For similar updates from the 2021 India tour of South Africa, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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