On the back of a blistering 55 from Dinesh Karthik and Avesh Khan scalping 4/18, India thrashed South Africa by 82 runs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Friday (June 17). Despite losing the toss for the fourth time in a row, India ended up on the winning side, meaning that the hosts levelled the five-match series 2-2, with Sunday's match at Bengaluru now a winner takes it all affair.
After Karthik's career-best efforts of 27-ball 55, hitting nine fours and two sixes at a strike-rate of 203.7 apart from sharing a 65-run stand off 33 balls with Hardik Pandya (46 off 31 balls) propelled India to a competitive 169/6, South Africa were never in the chase from the word go, with only three batters reaching double figures and crashed to 87 all out in 16.5 overs, with Avesh being the pick of bowlers with his career-best figures in this format of the game.
Meanwhile, former India batter Virender Sehwag took to Twitter to hail Karthik and Khan for their outstanding performances. Sehwag shared a pic of a dialogue from a popular web series 'Scam 1992' and captioned it, "DK today in the first half. And Avesh whose place was questioned after being wicketless in the first three matches. Winning in style -Team India." Check it out here:
DK today in the first half.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) June 17, 2022
And Avesh whose place was questioned after being wicketless in the first three matches.
Winning in style -Team India. #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/VOJix6A8sh
Talking about the match, India dished out a clinical performance as they posted a competitive 169 for six, riding on Karthik's career-best 27-ball 55 and Pandya's 46 off 31 balls.
The hosts then returned to dismiss South Africa for 87 in 16.5 overs.
For India, Avesh Khan (4/18) snapped four wickets in a sensational spell of fast bowling, while Yuzvendra Chahal (2/21) claimed two and Harshal Patel (1/3 in 2 overs) took one.
Earlier, India, who were invited to bat first, found themselves in a spot of bother after being reduced to 40 for three in the 7th over but Pandya (46 off 31 balls) and Rishabh Pant (17 off 23 balls) added 41 off 40 balls to provide stability the innings. Pandya and Karthik then forged a 65-run stand in 33 balls to take India to a fighting total.
.@DineshKarthik put on an impressive show with the bat & bagged the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia beat South Africa in Rajkot.
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 17, 2022
Scorecard https://t.co/9Mx4DQmACq #INDvSA | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/RwIBD2OP3p
For South Africa, Lungi Ngidi had the best figures of 3-0-20-2, while Marco Jansen (1/38), Anrich Nortje (1/21 in 3 overs), Dwaine Pretorius (1/41) and Keshav Maharaj (1/29) were also among wickets.
Brief Scores: India 169/6 in 20 overs (Dinesh Karthik 55, Hardik Pandya 46; Lungi Ngidi 2/20, Anrich Nortje 1/21) beat South Africa 87/9 in 16.5 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 20, Quinton de Kock 14, Avesh Khan 4/18, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/21) by 82 runs
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