South Africa have beaten India by 4 wickets, chasing 359 in New Raipur to level the One Day International (ODI) series 1-1.
The hosts lost their 20th consecutive coin toss earlier today and were invited to bat first. Early wicket fell, but centuries from Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and then a 50 at the back end by KL Rahul put them past 350.
The Proteas had a rather poor start to the innings, not capitalizing on the Power Play-imposed fielding restrictions, but slowly built their innings.
Markram Leads The Charge
Aiden Markram, South Africa’s opening batsman, scored 110 runs off 98 deliveries. The innings included 10 fours and 4 sixes, as he kept his team in the game after the early departure of Quinton de Kock.
Markram enjoyed a solid partnership with Temba Bavuma, the captain, which laid the foundation for the chase.
Harshit Rana got his wicket at the 30-over mark, caught by Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was another one of the centurions from this match.
When Markram was gone, Dewald Brevis’ fireworks prevented the hosts from getting a grip on the game.
Indian Bowlers Falter
The Men in Blue initially were doing a great job of keeping the runs in check, however, fielding errors kept the pressure on them.
Dew added to the Indian bowlers’ troubles, with Prasidh Krishna particularly expensive and being unable to create any threat whatsoever. He eventually did manage to secure the wicket of Matthew Breetzke, but the job looked done by then.
Tony de Zorzi retiring hurt also benefitted the hosts’ cause, who after getting rid of Marco Jansen cheaply, only had Corbin Bosch to deal with, something which they couldn’t do.
He would finish the game with Keshav Maharaj on the other end.
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