Aiden Markram pulls off a blinder to send Hardik Pandya back to the pavilion

We witnessed a stupendous catch from South African skipper Aiden Markram to send India’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya back to the pavilion. Arguably, this has been the only good thing that has happened to him after the captaincy baton was handed over to him in the absence of the regular skipper Faf du Plessis. In the first two encounters as captain, Markram failed with the bat and the team also suffered humiliating losses.

However, the all-important fourth ODI started in the visitors’ favour but the Proteas came back strongly which eventually helped them to restrict India for 289 runs. When the Delhi boys Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan were batting, 320-330 was looking getable but the Proteas pulled things back really well and ended the first inning on a high.

The South African speedster Kagiso Rabada came to bowl the 48th over when Pandya and the wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni, were looking to go big and give the team a late flourish. Knowing the conditions well, Rabada pitched the ball up, asking the batsman to play away from his body.

The all-rounder tried to clear the ball over the cover fielder as it could have fetched him four important runs. Further, he went into the shot early and in lieu of that, he couldn’t time the ball perfectly and he didn’t connect it from the middle of the bat.

Markram, who is known for his athleticism timed his jump to the perfection and with his brilliant effort helped his side get rid of the dangerous Pandya in the crucial phase of the inning. That wicket brought the lost hope back and at the halfway mark the Proteas would believe they have the best chance to come back.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/AZWedSx8RO

— Alauddin Khilji (@AlauddinKhilj10) February 10, 2018