The South Africa tour of India series has now come to the white ball chapter, and two young brigades, with a mix of experience, have shown the true essence of an ODI match. From capitalising on the runs in powerplay to maximise the singles and doubles after ten overs, two of the best white ball teams at least played the game beautifully.
From breaking the daddy partnerships to having trouble breaking partnerships, for a moment, the ODI cricket touched its peak, and RO-KO’s 136-run stand in the home ground of Mahendra Singh Dhoni just felt like an evening from 2013.
Virat Kohli’s comeback century and Crobin Bosch’s fight just added pure emotions to the game.
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Summary of Indian innings
After losing 19th toss in a row, Proteas put India to bat first. Batting first, India put a humongous total of 349 runs on the board. In reply, South Africa scored 332 runs and lost the match by a very close margin. Batting first, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is making his return to the team in the absence of Shubman Gill, was only able to score 18 runs as he was caught out by De Kock in the ball Nandre Burger.
Burger also took the wicket of Virat Kohli, who made his 52nd century in ODIs and scored 135 runs. Rohit, who was in good touch in the Australia series, continued the good touch and scored 57 runs, and also surpassed Shahid Afridi and became the highest six-hitter with 352 sixes in ODIs. Batting at number six, team captain KL Rahul also scored 60 runs.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was also making his comeback in the team with a red-hot form, got out by a stunning catch taken by his franchise teammate Dewald Bravis. Along with Burger, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, and Ottameil Baartman also took two wickets each. Jadeja played a cameo as he scored 32 runs in 20 balls.
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Summary of South Africa innings
In reply to the Indian innings, the Proteas were trembled at first as they lost their 3 wickets in just 11 runs. Mathew Bretzekee and Tony De Zorzi built a partnership, after De Zorzi’s wicket, Dewald Bravis also played a handful full innings. For Proteas Marco Jansen, Mathew Bretzkee, and Corbin Bosch stood tall.
Corbin Bosch’s fighting innings of 67 runs came to an end as Prasidh Krishna took the wicket of him to end the match in the final over. For Team India, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav bowled brilliantly in the tough conditions where the bowlers had to struggle with the dew.
Overall, it was a good evening at the centre, with a legendary touch and class, and also a good Sunday for fans as Virat Kohli won the man of the match trophy.
