VIDEO: George Bailey's weird batting stance against South Africa
Australian batsman, George Bailey surprised everyone with his batting stance in the one-day practice match against the visiting South African side. The Faf du Plessis-led Proteas are currently touring Australia for a three-match ODI series and a one-off T20 game. Their tour began with a one-day practice game against the Prime Ministers XI at Canberra on Wednesday.
On winning the toss, Proteas skipper du Plessis opted to bat first. A full-fledged South African side managed just 173 runs as they were bowled out in 42 overs- courtesy the three-wicket hauls from Jason Behrendorff and Usman Qadir, while right-arm medium bowler, Blake L Edwards finished with the figures of 2/43.
For the African nation, Aiden Markram (47 off 49 balls) and David Miller (45 off 55 balls) made useful contributions with the bat, while other batsmen fell cheaply. Chasing just 174 runs for a victory, the Prime Ministers XI side led by Bailey lost one of their openers, Max Bryant with just 14 runs the board. It was speedster Dale Steyn's only wicket in that game. While almost every other batsmen failed, wicket-keeper batsman Josh Philippe, skipper George Bailey, and teenager Jason Sangha provided the much-needed stability to their innings. While Sangha made 38 (64), Josh made 57 off 53 and Bailey made 51 off 76.
In the entire match, one thing caught the attention of cricketing fraternity- George Bailey's unusual facing-towards-the cover stance while facing pacers Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada. His counterpart, Faf du Plessis, who was at the second-slip seemed baffled and was unable to control his giggles. Bailey though had just one thing in his mind- to remain unbeaten until the end and finish off the game for his side and he did just that.
He steadied the ship with a crucial 77-run stand with Jason Sangha and made sure that the results went in their favour as the Prime Ministers XI chased down the target of 174 in just 36.3 overs at the loss of six wickets.
Though Bailey's sensible knock proved to be decisive, it was his batting stance that grabbed the headlines more than his batting skills. The first of the three ODIs between Australia and South Africa begins in Perth on November 4, Sunday.