Tahir Becomes 1st Spinner to Bowl Opening Over at World Cup

Tahir was in scintillating form during IPL 2019. In 17 games for CSK, he took 26 wickets and won the purple cap.

Imran Tahir continued his sensational IPL form by picking a wicket in the first over of the World Cup.

(Photo: AP)

South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir scripted his name in the history books on Thursday, 30 May, as he became the first spinner to bowl the first ball of a World Cup.

After electing to bowl against England in the opening match at The Oval, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis surprised everyone by bringing in Tahir to bowl the first over.

Tahir too, grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he dismissed England opener Jonny Bairstow (0) off just his second delivery.

Bairstow failed to read Tahir's googly and moved forward to defend it, but ended up giving a catch to stumper Quinton de Kock.

Prior to this, New Zealand great Martin Crowe had surprised everyone in the 1992 cricket World Cup by bringing off-spinner Dipak Patel into the attack in the second over. Patel bowled the second over in his side's clash with Australia, which the Kiwis won by 37 runs.

Previously as well Tahir was in scintillating form during Indian Premier League 2019. He was part of the CSK squad that lost the IPL final against Mumbai Indians.

In 17 games for CSK this season, Tahir took 26 wickets and won the purple cap for most wickets in the tournament.