WTC Final: 'The best wicket I could've gotten', Ngidi on Smith's dismissal
London: South Africa's Lungi Ngidi opened up about his devastating second innings spell on Day 2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord's and admitted that Steve Smith's dismissal was probably the "best wicket" he could have gotten.
After South Africa pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada removed Usman Khawaja (6) and Cameron Green (0) in quick succession and Marco Jansen got Marnus Labuschagne (22), then Ngidi got the massive wicket of Smith, trapping him lbw for 13 to reduce Australia to 48/4.
"I think because of the stage that we're playing on, that's probably the best wicket I could've gotten. Having struggled a bit in the first innings and then to be able to get that wicket, at that stage, it probably ranks very high up there for me. I can't put into words how I felt about taking that wicket. Such a relief," Ngidi told ICC Digital.
After struggles on the opening day of the one-off Test, where he settled for figures of 0/45 from his eight overs, Ngidi bounced back on Day 2, claiming three for 53.
"(I) probably tried to do too much, too early, ended up leaking runs, putting yourself under pressure and then you're chasing the game from there. I was putting a bit of pressure on myself. Bowling in the first innings, seeing the guys that have gone ahead, they've performed so well, taken wickets, you want to carry on that momentum," he said.
'(With) Test cricket, you've got two chances as a bowler. The coach said, 'just go play your game, don't worry about anything that has gone on before, it's your moment now, when you get the ball, just make it count," Ngidi recalled.
Pat Cummins' superb spell helped rout South Africa for just 138 and saw Australia take a lead of 74 on the first innings but the Proteas' quicks fired up in reply as Rabada and Ngidi combined for six wickets to leave the Aussies reeling at 144/8 in their second dig heading into the third day on Friday.
"First innings probably didn't go as planned, so once I got a bit of rhythm from the other end, and I could feel that I was putting the ball in the right areas and there was still a bit of assistance in the wicket, I felt like that would probably be the dismissal, trying to set that up.
"And then, yeah, got it spot on, so very happy about that. It definitely (meant a lot. (We're) excited about the position that we're in," Ngidi concluded.
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