“I was just trying to breathe,” he said with a smile after the game. “It’s my favorite place to play cricket and I was nervous, very nervous, so I was just trying to control my breathing.”
Stubbs grew up in Knysna, a small town about 260 kilometers from Gqeberha and has played all his national and franchise cricket at St George’s Park. This hit was even more special for Stubbs as it was his mother’s birthday and he had many family and friends in the crowd who had driven to the ground to celebrate.
“There are usually a lot of them [his friends and family]”I think it’s probably between 30 and 35,” Stubbs said. “They usually come once a year for SA20 and have already made one trip.” It’s also my mom’s birthday, so it’s kind of a celebration.
“Before I met the team I went and said hello to everyone at the house where they’re staying. So yeah, it’s been a really good day.”
Stubbs, who came in to bat on 33 for 2 in the sixth over with South Africa chasing 125, saw his team slip to 66 for 6 in the 13th over. That soon became 86 for 7 in the 16th over, but he got vital support from Gerald Coetzee with whom he shared an unbroken stand of 42 runs for the ninth wicket off just 20 balls.
“Thankfully the race pace never got away from us,” Stubbs said of the chase. “Once we lost the wickets, I had 30 in mind from the last three and then G [Coetzee] I actually came and we played an innings to help and then luckily we got over the line.
“He came in and said right away we could win this. I believed it the whole time. We were always two hits away from running the ball again and then we had the crowd behind us, which was just amazing.”
“Both [Chakravarthy and Bishnoi] We were doing enough to beat you on both sides,” he said. “It wasn’t easy to come in and just rotate, let alone play them. They are two of the best spinners in the world, so when they are in the game, it is really difficult and they outplayed us in the middle just by outskilling us.
“So yeah, it was really nice to get the team over the line and not be there at the end. I think as someone who bats in the middle, that’s your goal when you chase, to get the team over the line, but do it.” “. by not being left out at the end.”
What has brought about this maturity in Stubbs’ game?
“I don’t really know how to respond to that. It’s been nice,” he said. “I really enjoy the longer format because you can spend more time in the middle without feeling like you need to play a big ball and I really enjoy the job of batting long.
“I think the longer form of cricket naturally helps your T20 game and batting and spending time in the middle and not having to make a play really helps the rest of the formats. So I think that’s been the biggest thing.” .
Ashish Pant is Deputy Editor of ESPNcricinfo
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