The man who shredded the Indian batting line-up into pieces from right, left, and centre within the blink of an eye and finally helped the Aussies to register a win against India in Pune, facing Steve O’Keefe would not be less than a nightmare for the Indian men in the upcoming games. O’Keefe not only took 12 wickets in the opening match but helped the most in wrapping up the 5-day play 2 days before and ended up with getting the Man of the match award. With this victory, Australia could successfully defeat India at their home after 7 long years.
Prior to this test series, O’Keefe knew very well that this tournament is the only chance to turn the things big in his own favour. Prior to this series he, Steve played four tests but not more than one in a series. He played one in Dubai, one in Sydney, one in Pallekele, another in Sydney. And before playing at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium, Pune he sensed the pressure after seeing a pitch that threatened to be a raging turner.
On Day 2, he was a bit disappointed as he didn’t leak runs but didn’t take wickets as well. Thus he spent some time with team’s spin consultant Sridharan Sriram at the lunch break and next when was given the ball, he came in like a wrecking ball and uprooted Indian batting line-up and threw them back to the dressing room. He finished with 6 for 35 from 13.1 overs.
STEVE O’KEEFE – Man of the Match for his spell of 12/70 – “I’ll remember the Hill End forever now” #IndvAus
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 25, 2017
10 wickets in the match for Steve O’Keefe! India lose half their side#IndvAus pic.twitter.com/3q1zEmuEMI
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 25, 2017
Steve O’Keefe reaches his milestone, Australia five away from victoryhttps://t.co/VI8uG5iJmf #IndvAus pic.twitter.com/cmSwbdyhMR
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 25, 2017
He doesn’t just stop there itself in Day 2 but continued striking like a lightening bolt on the Indian batsmen in the second innings and finally landed on the winning side with extracting 12 scalps overall.
And after the match ended, the tweets wishing O’Keefe for his stunner performances came from all around the world;
And the coach of India says Steve O’Keefe is “Steady” Well done Steady O’Keefe keep it up
