Published 12:22 IST, November 11th 2019
Adam Zampa hailed as 'The New Dhoni' by Langer post batting heroics
Adam Zampa was termed as 'The New Dhoni' by Australian head coach Justin Langer after some brilliant late hitting from him guided South Australia to victory.
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Australian head coach Justin Langer has termed spinner Adam Zampa as 'The New Dhoni' after some brilliant late hitting from him lifted South Australia to victory over Queensland on Wednesday.
Even Dhoni could not have finished that off: Zampa
Zampa was asked about Langer calling him 'The New Dhoni' after his batting exploits over Queensland in the post-match presentation, to which he joked that even Dhoni could not have finished that game off. He immediately added that he was joking and was aware of how it would hurt his fans around the globe. Zampa went on to say that Dhoni would have definitely finished the game off.
When he was asked about the tag, the leg-spinner said that he did not ever mention himself as 'The New Dhoni'. He added that Langer made that up and he was happy to run with it as long as the Australian coach ran with it. Zampa went on to say that he has realised he was talking way too much about his knock against Queensland and Billy Stanlake who was at the receiving end had apparently had enough of it.
Having set a target of 296 the Redbacks looked on track with Alex Carey (79) cruising alongside Callum Ferguson (91), before Carey was run out and Ferguson fell immediately with plenty of work to do. Queensland still needed 33 from the final 18 balls as tailender Zampa rose to the occasion as he slammed 35 from just 15 deliveries displaying some brilliant strokeplay as South Australia won with two balls to spare.
The leg-spinner slapped pacer Billy Stanlake for a straight six, before scooping Michael Neser for six from the first ball of the last over. With nine required to win from five balls and Zampa wasted no time getting there with consecutive boundaries through cover and square leg and registered a famous win for South Australia.
11:03 IST, November 1st 2019