Images from the second One-Day International between South Africa and India, in Paarl, on Friday.
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Rishabh Pant played the role of enforcer to perfection, scoring a career-best 85 off 71 balls, as India set South Africa a competitive 288-run victory target in the second One-Day International, in Paarl, on Friday.
Pant and skipper K L Rahul (55 off 79 balls) added 115 runs in less than 19 overs, the former taking the South African slow medium pacers and spinners to the cleaners.
But three dismissals in quick succession saw the Proteas stage a comeback on a Boland Park strip, where stroke-making wasn’t an easy proposition for a new batter.
The two Iyers — Shreyas (11 off 14 balls) and Venkatesh (22 off 33 balls) – found it a real struggle to get going as the ball did not come onto the bat. That saw the momentum completely shift.
India ended up with a score that was at least 20 runs less than what it could have been had Pant gone on to score a deserving maiden ODI hundred.
Shardul Thakur (40 not out off 38 balls) again used the long handle well in the company of Ravichandran Ashwin (25 not out off 24 balls) to prop the score somewhat.
Skipper Rahul, opening the innings, dropped anchor at one end but it was more like his own runs than what would have really helped the team’s cause, as he stayed at the wicket for more than 30 overs and barely managed a fifty-plus score.
It didn’t hurt much during their stand as Pant, with 10 fours and two sixes, took charge to keep the run-rate at a healthy five-plus per over.
Slow left-arm orthodox Keshav Maharaj (9-0-52-1) and left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi (9-0-57-2), who otherwise looked good, were made to look pedestrian by Pant.
He not only lofted them for a six each over long-on, but played the sweep shot — both slog-sweep towards cow corner and the conventional ones square off the wicket — to good effect.
It was one such shot, off Shamsi, that brought about his downfall.
Before that, rookie pacer Sisanda Magala (8-0-64-1), in his second spell varied the pace of his deliveries well to force Rahul commit into an uppish flick-shot that was taken at short mid-wicket by Rassie van der Dussen.
Magala and Andile Phehlukwayo (8-0-44-1) kept things tight between the 33rd and 43rd over with a lot of slower deliveries and cutters mixed and matched.
At the start, it was Shikhar Dhawan (29 off 38 balls), who took on rookie pacer Magala in the initial Powerplay overs to contribute handsomely in an opening stand of 63 before Aiden Markram’s ‘golden arm’ once again provided the breakthrough.
Dhawan played the slog-sweep and found Magala at deep mid-wicket boundary taking an easy catch.
Virat Kohli (0) was snuffed out early by Maharaj, was foxed by the slowness of the track.
Pant and Rahul then came together and resurrected the innings.
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