The Indian cricket team leveled the five-match series against the South African cricket team with a dominant performance at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. Dinesh Karthik became the oldest Indian to score a fifty in T20I cricket, and his half-century helped him win the Man of the Match award in the game.
South African cricket team skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss again and elected to field first. The decision worked in his team’s favor as India’s top four batters, namely Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant could not make much of an impact. Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik then stole the show with a magnificent partnership.
Hardik scored 46 off 31 balls, smashing three fours and three sixes, while Dinesh Karthik lost his wicket after aggregating 55 runs off 27 deliveries. Here’s what Karthik revealed about his conversation with Pandya after he arrived in the middle, with the score being 81/4 at 12.5 overs.
“We found it hard to get boundaries, so it was important for the players who have been around to stand up. When I went in, Hardik told me I can take my time before teeing off and that’s the plan I had. The wicket was a hard one but to execute my plans and end on the winning side is a lovely feeling.”
Dinesh Karthik has likely punched his ticket to Australia with this performance
After a memorable IPL 2022 season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Dinesh Karthik earned a recall to the Indian squad for the ongoing T20I series against the South African cricket team. He is also a part of the squad that will face Ireland next week.
With this Man of the Match award-winning performance, Karthik has probably punched his ticket to Australia for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022. It will be interesting to see how he performs if he is picked for the mega event.
