After a quiet start to the ongoing ICC World Test Championship Final, South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi roared back with a fiery second innings spell at Lord’s, helping put his side in a strong position against Australia at the end of the second day’s action.
The 29-year-old, who had a rather ordinary outing on Day 1, made a dramatic impact on Day 2 by picking up three crucial wickets, including the prized scalp of Steve Smith for 13, a moment he considers among the finest of his career.
“I think because of the stage that we’re playing on, that’s probably the best wicket I could’ve gotten,” Ngidi told ICC Digital.
“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’s dismissal of Smith set the tone for a memorable spell. He then removed the dangerous Beau Webster, triggering a mini-collapse that left Australia reeling at 144/8 by stumps on Day 2, with just a 218-run lead.
After his first innings efforts were overshadowed by teammates Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen’s perfect show, who between them picked up eight of the 10 wickets. Ngidi, who had settled for figures of 0/45 from his eight overs, admitted that he had put too much pressure on himself.
“(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,” he said.
“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.
A timely pep talk from the coach helped him reset mentally.
“(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.’”
That shift in mindset paid dividends as Ngidi found his rhythm and stuck to his plans.
“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,” he continued.
“And then, yeah, got it spot on, so very happy about that. It definitely (meant a lot).”
Ngidi’s inspired spell gave the Proteas a renewed sense of belief, despite conceding a first innings lead of 74 runs in their first innings.
“(We’re) excited about the position that we’re in,” he said.