Ngidi revels in 'unreal' debut

When Lungi Ngidi was 18 years old and in his first season as a professional cricketer, he was part of a Titans' T20 team that played in the final of the franchise competition. He only bowled one over in the match but removed the opposition's most high-profile batsman: Kevin Pietersen, who top-edged a pull.

At 19, with a bit more experience under his belt, Ngidi was in the franchise final again. He was considered good enough to bowl a full complement of four overs and, conceding just 27 runs, he got rid of the two best batsmen from the opposition: Colin Ingram and Colin Ackermann.

It was with these experiences that Ngidi, now 20, took the new ball for South Africa in Friday's T20 against Sri Lanka. "I've played in a few finals so I have been under pressure quite a few times already and that's one of the things that gave me an advantage," he explained afterwards.

"Having been under pressure situations before, I knew opening the bowling for your country is not really a joke. It's quite a serious matter. I tried to focus on the methods that's worked for me and that's just to stay in the moment. There's nothing you can really do other than deliver the balls one at a time and from there see what happens. The first over, I wanted to get my line and length right and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would have been." Still, his first over cost nine runs and was taken out of the attack.

Sri Lanka needed 40 off 18 balls with seven wickets in hand in a 10-over shootout when Ngidi was brought back, and having seen his team-mates making crucial incisions, he wanted to step up too.

"After the first over I saw that there was a bit of bounce and it was skidding through. I tried to beat the batsmen for pace," Ngidi said. "Coming back in the eighth over, I knew if I hit the deck hard at back of a length, I could try and nick the batsman off or get him caught."

The plan worked perfectly. Seekkuge Prasanna swung at a back of a length ball, got a top edge that wicketkeeper Mangaliso Mosehle gobbled up and Kusal Mendis pulled a short one to deep square leg, where Heino Kuhn took the catch and then, wary of how close he was to the rope, popped the ball over to Imran Tahir.

"I thought Heino had taken the catch and was going to do a victory lap but then I saw him punt the ball up so my heart jumped because I didn't know which way it was going," Ngidi said. "But I was very happy. The skill levels are up there."

Ngidi finished with figures of 2-0-12-2. He was the only South African bowler with an economy rate under 11, for which he earned the Man-of-the-Match award on his home ground and more fans than he has ever had before. "I have never heard people scream my name. It really was amazing for me. I have been working hard to get where I am and for the fans to acknowledge and support me like that, it was unreal for me.

"I actually got a bit emotional so I just had to take a moment to myself there and focus on the game again. It's a bit overwhelming because I have never had that many people ask for my autograph or to take pictures. Usually it's the odd one or two but now there's even more"

Titans' coach Mark Boucher has identified Ngidi as Kagiso Rabada-like because of his pace - around 140 kph - his clever use of the bouncer and his cool head. South Africa's selectors seem to have the same idea and for Ngidi, the dream is coming true.