South Africa vs India 4th ODI – Who Said What

South Africa finally arrived in the contest. Wearing the Pink jersey there was a different buoyancy, excitement and exuberance in the Proteas camp; also because AB de Villiers was back. It all counted in the end as they won the match in a tremendous manner by 5 wickets to keep their nose afloat after being almost dead deep in water.

Batting first India with an interruption managed 289/7 in 50 overs. They were going really well when Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan were batting. But the former got out for 75 and Dhawan who scored a hundred in his 100th ODI couldn’t continue for long after the thunder break. The middle order crumbled and it was MS Dhoni’s almost run-a-ball 42 that took India to an almost par looking total.

The way their bowlers had dominated the proceedings India still fancied their chances. But it was not the usual day today. Indians got Aiden Markram early after a 22-run start but rain interrupted the game and the revised target for South Africa was 202 in 28 overs. It was almost a T20 like situation and worked to their advantage since they knew what was the ask and that they had to go for it.

Though the scorecard will show AB de Villiers’ contribution only worth 26 runs but the way he treated Yuzvendra Chahal set the rest of the game up. He hit him for consecutive sixes and India’s most successful bowler thus far in the series ended with an economy of 12.36 after bowling 5.3 overs. David Miller capitalized on the turn of events and so did Heinrich Klaasen.

The big wicketkeeper-batsman played some really unorthodox shots but more importantly contributed 43 runs from 27 balls in a crunch game. Towards the end, Phehlukwayo also had a go and hit three sixes to take his team over the line. With that, South Africa also maintained their unbeaten record in the Pink Jersey.

Virat Kohli said:

In the second innings when the game was placed after the interval, we got a difference of 35 between runs and balls, it was almost a T20 game. We had to take our chances, no balls aren’t easy. In hindsight you have to give credit to South Africa, we didn’t grab our chances and they deserved to win. After the first lightning break when Shikhar and Jinx came off, the guys felt that the wicket got faster and the weather got cooler and they felt that the ball wasn’t coming on nicely.

The ball was getting a little wet, our spinners got a bit of turn but the South African batsmen took their chances and they came off. They improvised well and they deserved to win. The game getting shorter worked in their favour; had it been a full game you never know. It was more like a T20 game and you have to go after the bowlers. If a side has momentum in their favour, it is very difficult to stop them. Especially guys like Miller and their keeper batted brilliantly as well.

When AB got out we felt we were in the game but these two took it away from us. No balls are something that hurts you as a team and it is something we hope to rectify and not repeat them in the next games. They are a quality side and we know that. We also know that we have to be at the top of our game to get a win and that’s what we’ll do for the next game.

Man of the Match, Heinrich Klaasen said:

Unbelievable feeling; it is the best I’ve felt in my career so far. I was 100-percent nervous walking into the crease, my heart was beating very loudly. I have done it in the past though at the domestic level. I just want to play, doesn’t matter where I bat. I was told that I would be opening but was drafted down to number six and that god for that. Sometimes you have to try playing innovative shots and am glad it came off tonight.

After winning his first game as skipper Aiden Markram said:

Pink seems to be the perfect option for us. Just relieved to have got over the line today. To put some pressure on the Indians is a good feeling and to win is even better. Definitely happy with the fightback; the break out there was a blessing in disguise to break up their momentum. The bowlers too were able to work out their plans in that break. To restrict them to 290 was a great job from our bowlers. The message before today was to put fear aside and go and express ourselves and it is nice to see boys having bought into the plan.

There is enough pressure in this game and you don’t want boys to put pressure on themselves. It is good to have some experience in our middle-order with AB coming back. He possesses a different proposition to the opposition as well. We need to keep fighting our way; we aren’t still at our best yet and need to keep improving with each game with one step at a time. Would love to take pink into our big tournaments as well (laughs). Great day, great initiative and just incredibly happy with the way the day went.

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