IND vs SA 4th T20 Man of the Match: The veteran Indian batter won a T20I match award after four years tonight.
Advertisement
During the fourth T20I of the ongoing South Africa’s tour of India in Rajkot, India beat South Africa by 82 runs to draw level the series 2-2 with a match to be played. Having won the third T20I in Visakhapatnam by 48 runs, the hosts have successfully managed to increase their margin of victory at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Chasing a 170-run target, all South Africa could manage was 87 in 16.5 overs in a shambolic batting performance. A team innings which never really got going witnessed eight batters returning with single-digit scores tonight. Captain Temba Bavuma (8) retiring hurt was another blow for the visitors.
Pant to Bavuma after leveling the series #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/nh48BXu18w
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 17, 2022
Bowling first-change instead of sharing the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan was the pick of the Indian bowlers in this match picking bowling figures of 4-0-18-4. Having dismissed Dwaine Pretorius (0), Rassie van der Dussen (20), Marco Jansen (12) and Keshav Maharaj (0), Avesh’s career-best performance has come in a match-winning effort.
While spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked a couple of wickets, Harshal Patel and Axar Patel picked a wicket apiece on Friday.
IND vs SA 4th T20 Man of the Match
Playing his 36th T20I in what is a 16-year old T20I career now, veteran India batter Dinesh Karthik scored his maiden half-century in the format scoring 55 (27) with the help of nine fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 203.70.
Coming in to bat at No. 6 in the 13th over with his team reeling at 81/4, Karthik batted exceedingly well to ensure a competitive total for the Indian bowlers to defend. Karthik, who won a match award in India’s inaugural T20I, won his third such award in this format tonight.
“Just feels good. I am feeling very secure in this setup. In the last game, things didn’t go according to plan but I went and expressed myself today,” Karthik told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
“I think DK is thinking a little better. He is able to assess situations better and that comes with practice. Credit to my coach. They bowled brilliantly upfront and made it tough for us. It was a tough pitch to bat on. It was hard to hit boundaries.”
