Virat Kohli was at his best and looked determined to prove a point and prove his critics wrong. He notched up his record breaking 52nd ODI ton and scored 135 off 120 balls and was ably supported by Rohit Sharma who made 57 off 51 balls. Captain KL Rahul down the order made 60 off 56 balls while Ravindra Jadeja who made a useful 32 off 20 balls as India posted 349/8 in 50 overs. It was a hard toil for South Africa but they did well to keep the Indians under 350. A thriller could be on the cards.
Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli give India a flying start after Yashasvi Jaiswal got out early in powerplay
Put into bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma came out to bat for India while Marco Jansen had ball in hand for South Africa. Jaiswal started with a bang as hopped and cut it away to backward point for a boundary. Jansen then banged in short as the ball went over the keeper for four byes. Nandre Burger took the new ball from the other end. Jaiswal used deft touch as he hung back and opened the bat face to steer the ball past slip for a boundary.
Jansen continued as Jaiswal went bang as he took on the short ball angling in as he deposited it over deep backward square leg for the maximum. Burger drew first blood for South Africa as he dismissed Jaiswal for 18 off 16 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name. Burger bowled a good length delivery from over the wicket that angles and moved away a touch. Jaiswal looked to defend and got an inside edge through to de Kock who made no mistake. Virat Kohli came out to bat next.
Kohli got off the mark with a boundary as he looked to work it leg side and got the outside edge that beat Bosch at deep third man for boundary. Then a big moment came in the game as Rohit got a lifeline as he was dropped by Tony de Zorzi at deep square leg as Burger was the unlucky bowler. Jansen continued and bowled a quiet over. Burger continued as Kohli pressed forward and punched it to the right of mid-off for a boundary.
Jansen continued as Rohit showed great timing as got on his toes to ride the bounce and punched it with an open bat face to bisect the gap between point and backward point for a boundary. Jansen gifted away 5 wides to the batting side as the ball went way over everyone. Rohit then opened the face of the bat and drove it into the gap between cover and point for a boundary. The 50 came up for India in 7 overs.
Burger continued as Kohli took him on by clearing his front leg and thumped it over long-off for the maximum. Kohli then lunged forward and went for a drive away from the body and opened the face of the bat as the ball went over deep third man for a boundary. Corbin Bosch came into the attack for the first time today. Rohit took the attack to him as he played it late and used his wrists to flick it to the right of short square leg for a boundary. Then he hit Bosch by pulling it over backward square leg for a boundary.
Ottneil Baartman came into the attack to bowl the last over of powerplay. Kohli then took on Baartman by stepping down the track and lofted it over long-off for the maximum. The 50-run stand came up between Rohit and Kohli. At the conclusion of 10 overs at the end of first powerplay, India were 80/1.
Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma drove India forward before the latter fell to Marco Jansen
Bosch continued after the powerplay as Kohli leaned into the drive and hit on the up as the ball beat short extra cover to his left for a boundary. Baartman continued as Rohit got forward and opened the bat face to bisect the gap between short third and point for a boundary. Prenelan Subrayen came into the attack next. He bowled a miserly over. Baartman continued as the 100 came up for India in 13.3 overs.
Subrayen continued as Rohit took him on and slog swept him over deep midwicket for a maximum and this was his 350th in ODIs. Rohit was not done there and he got down on one knee and slog swept it over deep midwicket for the maximum. Bosch came back into the attack and bowled a quiet over as India went to 122/1 in 16 overs when players paused for the first Drinks Break.
Subrayen continued after the break as the 100-run stand came up between Rohit and Kohli. Bosch continued as Virat took him on and whipped it over the left of deep midwicket for the maximum as Virat reached his 76th ODI fifty in 48 balls. Kohli then took on Bosch and upper cut it over deep backward point for the maximum. Subrayen continued as Rohit reached his fifty off 43 balls and this was his 60th ODI fifty in ODIs. Marco Jansen came back into the attack as Rohit too him on and pulled it over backward square leg for the maximum and it was a record breaking 352nd six in ODIs.
India were 153/1 in 20 overs. Subrayen continued as Kohli stepped down the track and got to the pitch of the ball and launched it over long-on for the maximum. Jansen continued as he removed Rohit Sharma for 57 off 51 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes to his name as South Africa got the breakthrough. Jansen bowled the back of a length ball pitching outside the off-stump and angling back into the middle stump line. It stayed low and skidded through as Rohit swivelled for a pull and missed on the inside edge to get hit on the thigh pad. They had a chat but decided against it.
Ruturaj Gaikwad came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Subrayen continued and bowled a decent over. Burger came back into the attack and bowled a decent over. Subrayen continued as Kohli drove him by punching it between extra cover and deep cover for a boundary. India reached 179/2 in 25 overs at the halfway stage of the game.
South Africa pull things back with a couple of wickets while Virat Kohli completed his 52nd ODI ton
Burger continued and bowled a tidy over. Baartman came back into the attack as South Africa were pegging things back. He dismissed Gaikwad for 8 off 14 balls thanks to an outstanding catch from Dewald Brevis at backward point. Baartman bowled full and outside the off-stump as Gaikwad got into it with a flash and threw his hands at it. He opened the bat face and sliced to the right of backward point. Brevis with an outstanding catch as Washington Sundar came out to bat next.
Sundar survived a run out scare but no damage was done due to the miscommunication between the two players. Burger continued as Sundar arched back and played late to ramp it over deep third man for the maximum. Baartman continued and bowled another good over. Bosch continued and bowled a decent over as India were 198/3 in 30 overs. Baartman continued as the 200 came up for India in 30.2 overs. Baartman picked another wicket as he removed Sundar for 13 off 19 balls with a maximum to his name.
Baartman bowled full and outside the off-stump and was there to be hit. Sundar looked to clear the man at mid-off as he doesn’t get the timing or elevation as Bosch at the edge of the circle timed his jump well and plucked it out of thin air. Drinks was taken at this point. Captain KL Rahul came out to bat after that. Bosch continued as Rahul got forward and used his wrists to flick it in the gap between mid-on and short midwicket for a boundary.
Baartman continued and bowled another tidy over. Bosch bowled another probing over. Subrayen bowled a brilliant last over. Marco Jansen came back into the attack as Virat got on top of the bounce and pulled it along the carpet by using his wrists and hit it between deep square leg and wide long-on for a boundary. Subrayen bowled another tight over.
Jansen continued and the big moment came for India and everyone as Kohli brought up his 52nd ODI ton and 83rd overall with a boundary as he opened the face of the bat to guide it down to deep backward point for a boundary. Kohli punched the air in delight and everybody applauded the innings. Subrayen continued as Kohli took him on by flicking it away past short fine leg for a boundary. Kohli was not done yet as he stepped down the track and whacked it over wide long-on for the maximum by using his wrists. Kohli hit another maximum by clearing his front leg and tonked it over long-on for the maximum.
Kohli was not done there as he got forward to the pitch of the ball and drove it crisply between extra cover and deep cover for a boundary. The 50-run stand came up between Kohli and Rahul. Baartman continued as Kohli was breathing fire as charged at the bowler and slapped it through covers for a boundary. Kohli then took Baartman on and lofted it straight down the ground over the bowler’s head for a boundary. At the conclusion of 40 overs, India were decently placed at 264/4.
Virat Kohli falls, but KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja takes India to 349/8 in 50 overs
Burger continued and bowled a tidy over. Baartman continued as Rahul cleared his front leg and swiped it across the line as the ball went between deep midwicket and deep square leg for a boundary. Burger continued and got rid of Kohli for 135 off 120 balls with 11 fours and 7 sixes to his name as a magnificent innings came to an end. The slower ball did it for the bowler as Kohli looked to reach for it and threw his hands ay it and was early in the shot as the ball went to the mid-off region Rickelton ran back and took a great catch. Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway.
Baartman bowled another good over and finished his spell. Rahul took on Burger as he helped it on its way with the pull over fine leg for the maximum. Rahul then played the upper cut over backward point for the maximum. Rahul completed 200 sixes across formats. The 300 came up for India in 44.5 overs and at the end of 45 overs India were 301/5.
Bosch continued as Jadeja joined the party as he swivelled across and helped it on its way over long leg for the maximum. Jansen came back into the attack as Jadeja hit him for a boundary through long leg. Rahul reached his fifty in 50 balls with a brace. Bosch bowled a decent over. Jansen continued as Jadeja slapped it past diving extra covers for a boundary. Rahul then played the reverse scoop over third man for the maximum.
Jansen hit back and got rid of Rahul for 60 off 56 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his innings. Jansen bowled a length delivery around middle and leg stump. KL made room on the leg side and looked to play the reverse scoop and got cramped for room and got the outside edge through to the keeper. Harshit Rana came to the middle and got off the mark with a brace.
Bosch came to bowl the final over of the innings. Bosch removed Jadeja for a useful 32 off 20 balls with 2 fours and a maximum to his name. Bosch bowled a low full toss around the off-stump as Jadeja was deep in his crease and cleared his front leg and looked to pump it down the ground and didn’t time it well enough as he miscued the lofted stroke towards long-on. Aiden Markram took a good sliding catch. Arshdeep Singh came out to bat next and got cleaned up by Bosch as the yorker hit the off-stump and the batter failed to get his bat down in time.
Kuldeep Yadav came out to bat next and sneaked in 2 leg byes off the hat-trick ball as Australia finished with 349/8 in 50 overs with Rana unbeaten on 3 off 2 balls. 23 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a hard toil for the South African bowlers. They did well to pull things back in the end. Marco Jansen finished with 2/76 in 10 overs. Nandre Burger finished with 2/65 in 10 overs. Corbin Bosch finished with 2/66 in 10 overs. Ottniel Baartman was great with his figures of 2/60 in 10 overs. Prenelan Subrayen was wicketless with his 0/73 in 10 overs. South Africa’s target now is 350 runs to go 1-0 up in the series.
Who’s Winning, India or South Africa?Â
So, India have done well courtesy of Virat Kohli special to get to 349/8 and have runs on the board. But the pitch is a belter and with dew likely to play a big part, South Africa will fancy their chances against a weak Indian bowling line-up. The start will be important one feels. Advantage India a bit but they are 20-30 short from where they should have been.
Let’s see how the chase unfolds in Ranchi under the lights.
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