Keshav Maharaj made an unconventional start to the fourth and final day of the series against West Indies. He posed warmly with a song featuring his home teammate Keegan Peterson. Between giggles and a foam roller for a microphone, the pair expressed their intention to stand by each other. As it turned out, Peterson kept his word in more ways than he thought.
He was positioned at short leg when Jason Holder defended the delivery from Maharaj, got an inside edge and a chance came. Pietersen called Mark Boucher a "nice, quick catch" to put Maharaj on a hat-trick.
Since Geoff Griffin took South Africa's first hat-trick in a Test at Lord's 1960, there were 110 chances for a bowler from this country to repeat the feat. Maharaj had his 111th chance. As far as cricket's numbers-mythology goes, it couldn't have done a better job.
What Maharaj had expected would be his magical delivery on foot, but it didn't turn out. Joshua da Silva awkwardly tried to overcome it, but went into leg slip, where Wynn Mulder went to his right and took a good one-handed catch. Maharaj could hardly believe it. In celebration, he tried a pitch dive before being swamped by Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi and then, the rest of his teammates. The quality of the ball didn't matter, except maybe backwards.
"I probably could have bowled better than that, but all the credit goes to Viaan for taking that catch," said Maharaj. "It was a great reaction catch and whatever Viaan wants to eat or drink tonight will probably be on me."
Whether someone says "keg ball" on a hat-trick, we may never know, but if Boucher had known the delivery chef was going to bowl, he wouldn't have offered to take the bar bill.
"I thought da Silva was coming. He wasn't expecting to come out and it was probably the worst ball in Kesh," Boucher joked, before praising his only spinner. "Kesh has put a lot of effort into his action and his skills. He is bowling closer to the stumps and attacking the stumps more. These are moments that he will remember for the rest of his career. Days And taking five wickets as a spinner is something you want to do, especially in the last innings. He will enjoy it and gain a lot of confidence going forward."
It was Maharaj's seventh Test five-five and fourth outside South Africa. It was also their third as part of an away series win after taking 6 for 40 in Wellington in 2017 - the last time they won a series overseas - followed by a five-wicket win in the previous Test in Dunedin. . Although South Africa's victories are often remembered as being built on the backs of their fast bowlers, Maharaj is changing the story and sees it as his part in making way for the spinners.
He said, 'It is difficult to be a spinner. "Luckily the mindset towards spin bowling has changed in the country and if I can be the catalyst to improve it, I am doing half my job. Apart from trying to perform, I feel like setting an example." It is important to try to do for the young spinners out there who will eventually play Test cricket that there is definitely a future for spin bowling in our country
"I didn't even know we won the last Test series away from home in 2017. This team wants to move in a different direction. That was the first hurdle we had to cross and the boys would celebrate the series win."
Would they do it with some late-night karaoke? Probably not, but don't rule it out in the lead up to the next Test series.
"We're just having some fun. Test cricket has long days and tough days, so it's good to have a vent before going on the field and keep the discussion going in the changeroom, but I don't think I'm in idols anytime soon." Entering," said the Maharaj. "Keggs and I play a lot of cricket together at home. We enjoy each other's company, talking crap and singing crap."