England star Sam Curran is facing flak on social media for his over the top celebration after dismissing Temba Bavuma in the second ODI against South Africa on Sunday (January 29).
Riding on Temba Bavuma’s century, South Africa beat England by 5 wickets to clinch the three-match series with one game to play.
Asked to bat first, England were off to a poor start and were reeling at 82 for 3 at one stage. However, fifties from Harry Brook, captain Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali helped them post a big total of 342 for 7 in the allotted 50 overs.
In reply, South Africa chased down the total with five balls remaining. Captain Bavuma led from the very front and laid the foundation for the chase with a fine 90-ball century. Towards the end, David Miller anchored the chase by scoring an unbeaten 58 off just 37 balls.
That is a special knock from Temba Bavuma! ?
It's his third ODI ?in 22 matches – his second as a captain ?
UNREAL BATTING!
? Stream #SAvENG live: https://t.co/0BMWdeFwIB pic.twitter.com/UDAEWIiT1S
— SuperSport ? (@SuperSportTV) January 29, 2023
Rassie van der Dussen (38), Aiden Markram (49) and Marco Jansen (32*) also played useful supporting roles as South Africa registered a series-clinching win in Bloemfontein.
Sam Curran goes wild after dismissing Temba Bavuma:
Temba Bavuma’s fine knock came to an end when he was castled by Sam Curran in the 28th over. The right-handed batsman shuffled across to play the ramp shot against a ball that was full outside off.
And while Bavuma managed to get bat onto the ball, he could only direct it to the stumps. And as soon as the ball hit the stumps, Sam Curran came up with a wild celebration.
He ran towards Bavuma and decided to celebrate right in front of him while also shouting in his face. As far as Bavuma was concerned, he did not react to the celebration and left the field straightaway.
Here is a clip of the incident:
For anyone who's looking for Sam Curran's celebration video#SAvsENG pic.twitter.com/jli356LqMO
— Delhi Capitals Fan (@pantiyerfc) January 29, 2023
Meanwhile, several fans were unhappy with the way Sam Curran celebrated the wicket and decided to express their displeasure on Twitter.
Here are some of the reactions to Sam Curran’s celebration:
Really hate the bowlers who try to get into the batter after getting them out. Sam Curran celebrated like this for a wicket that was not even a wicket taking ball. Curran did not get him out, Bavuma himself did. #CricketTwitter #SAvsENG pic.twitter.com/2cl5KdT40c
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) January 30, 2023
Guess which one got a demerit point… Shouting at the ground vs shouting in his face #SamCurran #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/LWmMimJHc7
— Gills (@gpricey23) January 29, 2023
So the most expensive IPL player, Sam Curran, who's only taken 3 wickets in 7 matches for MI Cape Town at SA20 and 4 wickets for 95 runs over the first 2 ODI (losses) against the Proteas acted like this after Bavuma just whacked a century?. Embarrassing @CurranSM https://t.co/w6P6AcHMwE
— AlexB (@alexblumberg) January 29, 2023
If Rabada celebrated like Sam Curran did , he would be banned for life from all forms of cricket.
— Gerald (@Gee_SK) January 29, 2023