Andre Nel’s wife offered the South African paceman sound advice after they tied the knot on Saturday night: ”Let’s have a good time but not too good a time.”
It appears that Deanne Nel was determined that nobody would blame the wedding for any below-par performances on Sunday, the third day of the fourth Test against the Windies at Centurion.
It was advice that her husband took to heart. He claimed three for 64 to hasten the West Indies’ demise in the first innings and then returned to dismiss Brian Lara for the second time in a day.
Nel has dismissed Lara five times out of a possible eight this series but remains in considerable awe of the West Indies skipper.
”I don’t think you can intimidate a great batsman like Lara. He has probably faced bowlers 10 times better than me,” said Nel after play on Sunday.
”But I was determined to get him out for the team. My wife said to me we can have a good time but we mustn’t give them any reason to point fingers. I was determined to do well.”
Nel admitted that he was increasingly nervous on Saturday evening as play dragged on, fearing that he would be late for the wedding.
”I was actually more nervous about giving the speech,” he added.
”I don’t really like speaking in front of people. But getting married is really special. It was like taking a fiver (five wickets) for the first time.
”You can’t describe the feeling.” – Sapa