Twitter Reactions: Vintage Dinesh Karthik, Avesh Khan power India to series-levelling win

All-round India completed a comprehensive victory against the Proteas.

By Chaitanya Prakash

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India vs South Africa
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India vs South Africa. (Photo Source: BCCI)

India defeated South Africa by 82 runs in the fourth T20I on Friday, 17th June, and drew level 2-2 in the five-match series. The Indian team posted a competitive total of 169 after some sensational hitting by Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik in the latter stages of the innings. Avesh Khan was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he annihilated the South African innings by scalping four wickets, three of which came in just one over.

South Africa similarly started their batting innings to that of India’s as the batters struggled to get going in the first ten overs. The Proteas were dealt a huge blow early in the innings as skipper Temba Bavuma was retired hurt after sustaining an elbow injury. Quinton de Kock, who was returning to the side after an injury layoff looked good at the crease before he fell victim to a huge mixup at the crease and was run out.

Dwaine Pretorius didn’t trouble the scorers much as he was sent back for a duck, and Henrich Klassen followed suit as he was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal for just eight runs. Despite losing their top order cheaply, South Africa were in the chase as long as the dangerous David Miller was on the crease. But, Harshal Patel provided the killer blow in the 11th over when the right arm quick sent the southpaw’s off-stump flying off the ground. The Proteas side pretty much surrendered after Miller’s wicket and never looked threatening to get near India’s target.

Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik put the South African bowlers to the sword in the final five

Earlier in the innings, Bavuma won the toss for the fourth consecutive time and invited India to bat first. The Proteas bowlers had the Indian batters in a tangle as they managed just 53 runs in the first ten overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who roared back into form in the last match, was dismissed cheaply in the second over. Shreyas Iyer lasted just two deliveries before he was struck plumb in front by Marco Jansen.

Skipper Rishabh Pant then joined the in-form Ishan Kishan at the crease in a bid to get the innings going, but Kishan was sent back to the pavilion after a sluggish 27. Pant’s deputy Hardik Pandya was greeted with a huge roar by the crowd, and as it looked like the duo will showcase their big-hitting skills. However, the southpaw was dismissed in the 13th over, leaving India tattering at 81/4.

But that’s when the duo of Pandya and Dinesh Karthik stitched a blockbuster partnership of 65 runs off just 33 deliveries. Pandya (46 off 31) and Karthik (55 off 27) propelled India’s total to 169/6 as 73 runs were scored off the last five overs. Notably, Karthik registered his maiden T20I fifty, having made his debut in the format back in 2006.

Meanwhile, let’s look at how Twitter reacted to India’s triumph:Β 

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