Yuzvendra Chahal terms Angelo Mathews dismissal “ball of the match”

What's the story?

India's talented leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has described his wicket of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews as the “ball of the match”. In the series decider at Visakhapatnam yesterday, Chahal bowled the experienced Mathews for 17 when his long stay would have helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total, after Upul Tharanga had ensured that the visitors got off to a flier in the third ODI.

"The ball to Mathews drifted in and turned away by which he played down the wrong line and got beaten. It was the ball of the match for me," he said.

In case you didn't know..

Leg-spinner Chahal and chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav have formed a very stable association in limited-overs cricket for India ever since the Champions Trophy this June. Their continued success and variations have kept the experienced pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja out of the fray for nearly six months.

Notably, Chahal had commendable figures of 6/25 against England in a T20 early this year, while Kuldeep got a hat-trick against Australia in India's current home season.

The heart of the matter

Chahal bowled one flatter and shorter to Mathews from over the wicket as the ball pitched on leg stump and disrupted the batsman's middle and off stump.

"I was getting some turn from the other end while bowling quickly or slowly," Chahal recalled. "I was wanting to vary my pace. When you bowl flatter, the batsman thinks that the ball will not turn much.”

What's next?

While India came from behind to win the ODI series 2-1, three T20s remain to be played before the series concludes and India head to South Africa for a near two-month long tour.

The big challenge for Chahal and Kuldeep will come on the South African tracks which assist pace and bounce rather than staying low and slow as the home pitches do.

Author's Take

Mathews' wicket could well be considered as the delivery of the match. Despite being of a flatter trajectory and short of a length, it extracted enough turn to fox the batsman who safely thought it would come much straighter.

The dismissal of an experienced Mathews off a fine turner will be a great confidence booster for Chahal, who is still relatively new to international cricket, especially against the experience of former skipper Mathews.