India levelled the T20I series in style, beating South Africa by a massive 82 runs in the fourth match. India were not at their best in the first inning and were on course to a mediocre score. However, Hardik Pandya and the veteran, Dinesh Karthik, set the Rajkot stadium on fire in the second half. ‘DK’ was at his destructive best in the slog overs and notched up his maiden T20I fifty 16 years after making his T20I debut. South Africa never looked like chasing the score as they were bowled out for their lowest score in T20 internationals. We look at some of the key moments from the fourth INDvsSA T20I.
Pant’s troubles outside off
While his captaincy has been blowing hot and cold, Rishabh Pant’s batting form has been underwhelming, so far. In the four innings that the Indian captain has batted, he has scored just 57 runs at a strike rate of 105.56. 29 of those came in one inning. But what has been more concerning is his mode of dismissals.
Pant prefers scoring on the leg side or hitting it straight. Because of that, and his bottom-hand heavy technique, he has, at times, struggled to score freely on the off side. However, that struggle has been more evident in this series. All four of his dismissals came off balls pitched extremely wide of the off stump, at times, even outside the return crease.
Pant has been dismissed 16 times this year in all T20s. 10 of those dismissals have come off balls outside the sixth stump, and they have come off varied lengths. Pant would want to sort his technical issues with the coaches soon and overcome his open weakness.
Trademark DK finish
After a sluggish start and failure to get some momentum into the innings, it looked like India were going nowhere with their batting approach. When Pant’s struggle ended after an uncharacteristically slow inning, India had put up just 81 runs off 12.5 overs. Then came the DK show.
DK bided his time initially, playing three dot balls before his first scoring shot. At one point, he was just six off eight balls, but then came the onslaught. DK went on to add 49 runs at a strike rate of 257.89 in an inning that included nine Fours and a couple of Sixes. All this was possible because of his ability to use crease. He didn’t shy away from slogging even the pacers, and his slog sweep yielded 18 runs, including three Fours and a Six.
Avesh Khan’s breezy spell
With the ball, Avesh Khan was the standout Indian bowler. The dual nature of the pitch meant that the pacer, who has the advantage of extra pace, had an opportunity to showcase his skills. Not only did Khan display his skills, but he also picked up his career-best figures of 4/18 for India.
Khan doesn’t swing the ball a lot but relies on his line and length, especially his length. On a pitch where the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat easily, Khan consistently bowled the ‘hard length balls’, pitching them on good or just short of good length. He didn’t bowl a single full-pitched ball and often hurried the batters with his pacey balls aimed at their bodies.
The INDvsSA series is now level at 2-2, and the teams will travel to M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for the series decider. After bowling out the tourists for their lowest score in the format, the momentum is with the hosts. India would also like to get their first series win at home in the limited-overs format against South Africa.