Welcome to Sportstar's highlights of the fourth T20I between India and South Africa. This was Aneesh Dey taking you through the action as it unfolded at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
That is all for today. Thanks for tuning in. Goodnight and take care.
Match Report:
All over at Rajkot then. Bavuma retired hurt so that means India clinches a 82-run win against South Africa to level the series 2-2. The series will be decided in the final match on Sunday, June 19th.
INDIA WINS!!
South Africa 87/9 in 16.5 overs: OUT! Lungi Ngidi c Gaikwad b A. Patel 4 (10b 0x4 0x6) . An easy catch by Gaikwad at long-on.
Axar Patel to bowl the 17th over!
South Africa 87/8 in 16 overs: Three runs! Good running between the wickets between Shamsi and Ngidi.
Avesh to bowl the final over of his spell
South Africa 80/8 in 15 overs: OUT! Anrich Nortje c Ishan Kishan b Chahal 1 (4b 0x4 0x6). Chahal gets his second wicket in the last bowl of his spell. Nortje tried for the swipe shot but was caught by Kishan at point as the ball edged. Tabraiz Shamsi to come in next.
Chahal to bowl the final over of his spell
South Africa 78/7 in 14 overs: OUT! Rassie van der Dussen c Gaikwad b Avesh Khan 20 (20b 2x4 0x6. Another big wicket for India. Dussen did not get enough power on his shot and he is caught by Gaikwad at deep mid-wicket. A painful one! It was a bouncer by Avesh and it hit Jansen on the head. He was down but is back up fortunately. OUT! Marco Jansen c Gaikwad b Avesh Khan 12 (17b 1x4 1x6). Moment after receiving medical attention, Jansen is caught by Gaikwad by deep mid-wicket. FOUR! Pant tried to get a hold but the ball was too high as it raced towards the fence. OUT! Keshav Maharaj c Iyer b Avesh Khan 0 (2b 0x4 0x6). It was a mistimed shot by Maharaj and it is an easy catch for Iyer at mid-on. Lungi Ngidi to come in next.
Avesh Khan to bowl the 14th over
South Africa 73/4 in 13 overs: A good over by Chahal. Just three runs came from that over.
Chahal back into the attack
South Africa 70/4 in 12 overs: SIX! A humongous maximum by Jansen. The ball came right off the middle of the bat. It goes out of the stadium over long-on. FOUR!This time, Jansen hits a boundary after finding the gap at wide-on.
Axar Patel to bowl the 12th and his third over
South Africa 59/4 in 11 overs: OUT! David Miller b H. Patel 9 (7b 0x4 1x6). A huge wicket for India. It was a good seam-up ball, which knocked over the off stump. An excellent over from Harshal- one wicket and just a run conceded.
Patel to bowl his second over
Drinks break
South Africa 58/3 in 10 overs: An economical over by Axar till now. Just three runs from the over till now. Just five runs from the over.
Axar Patel to bowl his second over
South Africa 53/3 in 9 overs: FOUR! Klaasen smashes a boundary off the very first ball. Comes down the track and smashes the ball over the bowler's head. OUT! Big appeal by Chahal as the ball hits Klaasen's pads. The umpire shows out but Klaasen reviews it. Klaasen loses the review and he walks back to the pavilion. David Miller in at No 5. vd Dussen-Miller show again anyone? SIX! What a finish to the over by Miller. It is a slower ball by Chahal but Miller reads it well and muscles the ball over midwicket.
Chahal to bowl his second over
South Africa 41/2 in 8 overs: LBW appeal by India as the ball hits Klaasen's pads. Original decision is not out. Review says ummpire's call- Klaasen can breathe easy.
Axar Patel to bowl his first over- more spin for India
South Africa 39/2 in 7 overs: An economical over by Chahal. He gives away just four runs.
Some spin for India- Yuzvendra Chahal brought into the attack
South Africa 35/2 in 6 overs: OUT! Dwaine Pretorius c Pant b Avesh Khan 0 (6b 0x4 0x6). Pretorious tries to push the ball through the leg side but ends up nicking the ball to Pant. Heinrich Klaasen to come in at No 4.FOUR! Klaasen with an immediate impact after hitting the ball tothe point fence. FOUR! vd Dussen with a good finish to the powerplay as he beats the man at fine leg.
Avesh Khan to bowl the sixth over
South Africa 25/1 in 5 overs: OUT! Quinton de Kock run out (H. Patel) 14 (13b 2x4 0x6). Great presence of mind shown by Patel. A bad mix up between the wickets leads to both batsman going for a run. Patel takes the bails off at the striker's end to send De Kock back to the pavilion.
Harshal Patel joins the attack for India
South Africa 22/0 in 4 overs: Play has halted for a while as Bavuma gets medical attention. BAVUMA RETIRES HURT! After a lot of deliberation, the skipper decided that he cannot play. Dwayne Pretorious has come as his replacement.
Avesh Khan to bowl the fourth and his first over
South Africa 20/0 in 3 overs: Bavuma looking to pierce the offside but Iyer with some excellent fielding to stop the run. FOUR! Bavuma finally gets his boundary after a few nervy deliveries. He finds the gap between backward point and cover.
Bhuvneshwar to bowl his second over
South Africa 13/0 in 2 overs: FOUR! Sliced away by De Kock. It takes a thick enough edge and races away for a four. FOUR! A bad delivery by Pandya. De Kock gets enough room to pull and muscles the ball in the gap at backward point for a boundary.
Hardik Pandya to bowl the second over
South Africa 1/0 in 1 over: OFF THE MARK! South Africa gets its first run on the board as De Kock takes a single. A good starting over by Bhuvneshwar. Just one run from the over.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar to start the bowling for India
Quinton De Kock and Temba Bavuma to open for South Africa
India posts 169 runs on the board. South Africa needs 170 runs to win the match and clinch the series.
India 169/6 in 20 overs: SIX! Karthik gets to his maiden T20I fifty with a shot over deep mid-wicket. OUT! Karthik goes for another maximum but this time, finds van der Dussen at backward square. FOUR! Axar swings his bat and the ball races to the boundary after a taking an edge.
Pretorious to bowl the final over
India 153/5 in 19 overs: SIX! Pandya starts the over with a maximum. OUT! Hardik Pandya departs after a brilliant innings 46 (31b 3x4 3x6). It was a good catch by Shamsi. It went for a referral but it was a fair catch. FOUR! Another boundary for Karthik.
Ngidi to bowl the 19th over
India 139/4 in 18 overs: SIX! Karthik with a maximum this time! FOUR! A misfield at deep backward point and the ball hits the ropes. Everything is going in favour of DK right now. FOUR! Karthik is murdering the South African bowling attack right now. It is a good pull shot and he finds the the gap at deep square leg.
Dwaine Pretorious to bowl the 18th
India 124/4 in 17 overs: FOUR! Another boundary for Karthik. It was a full toss and DK sweeps the ball to short fine leg for the boundary. FOUR! Brilliant batting by Karthik. A straight drive, the ball goes straight and between long-on and long-off for a four. FOUR! This time Karthik goes for the reverse pull. He connects well and gets it over third man.
Maharaj to bowl the 17th over
India 111/4 in 16 overs: FOUR! Karthik starts the over with a brilliant shot. He comes down the track and muscles the ball over wide mid-off to bring up India's 100. FOUR! Karthik is getting into his groove now. This time he stays in the crease unlike his previous boundary. It was a good cut shot and the ball reaches the deep cover fence. FOUR! This time it is Hardik Pandya with the boundary. It was a slower delivery and Pandya smashed the ball to deep point for the four.
Nortje to bowl the 16th over. He has been brilliant till now
India 96/4 in 15 overs: FOUR! Karthik starts the over with a boundary. It was a good sweep and the ball beat the man at backward-square. Maharaj does well to recover after the opening boundary and concedes just three runs. Seven runs off the over.
Maharaj to bowl the 15th over
India 89/4 in 14 overs: Jansen bowls out. Over the wicket to Hardik. Short of a length on middle, angling away and Hardik defends. Comes around the wicket now. Straight, Hardik steps out to muscle this for just two at mid-wicket. Length again, closer to off-stump and Hardik steers behind point for one more. Karthik guides this straight behind point, wants one, is sent back, and is almost run out. Slower length ball, not short enough to be pulled and Karthik is beaten. They take one leg-bye. FOUR! Width outside off and Hardik slashes this to the third man fence.
India 81/4 in 13 overs: Maharaj keeps it on a good length and keeps the batters on leash. Pandya takes a single at long-off. OUT! Wide outside off, Pant slashes, gets a top edge and an easy take at short third. Rishabh Pant c Dwaine Pretorius b Keshav Maharaj 17(23b 2x4). Karthik is in next. Misses the flick first ball as the ball turns in sharply.
India 78/3 in 12 overs: Two singles to start this over from Shamsi. Dropped! Pant reverse sweeps in front of the stumps, doesn't middle it and a leaping short third takes it only to see it pop out. SIX! Full and Hardik dispatches this over mid-wicket. SIX! Two in two for Hardik and this is even bigger! Full again, Hardik goes low to sweep this over mid-wicket. Single to end the over.
India 62/3 in 11 overs: FOUR! This is a half-tracker from Maharaj, spinning in and Pant goes back in his crease to pull it to the mid-wicket boundary. Maharaj goes fuller. Just a single from the next four balls. Six from the over.
Another spinner joins the action. Keshav Maharaj to bowl the 11th over
India 55/3 in 10 overs: An excellent first over by Shamsi as he gives away just two runs.
Temba Bavuma introduces spin as Tabraiz Shamsi joins the attack
India 53/3 in 9 overs: Another brilliant over from Nortje as he concedes just two runs. He has conceded just six runs from his two overs.
Nortje to bowl his second over
India 52/3 in 8 overs: FOUR! Pant brings up India's 50 with that boundary. It was not a bad ball but Pant does well to make room and hit the ball to the right of sweeper cover. Eight runs from the over.
Pretorious to bowl his second over
India 44/3 in 7 overs: OUT! Nortje gets Kishan with his first ball- It was a short ball. Kishan tries to lift the ball over the keeper but the ball takes a nick and De Kock does well to take the catch. A big wicket. Hardik Pandya in at Number 5. FOUR! Pandya finishes the over with a boundary over backward point. The ball was in the air but zipped past the right of deep third man.
Anrich Nortje to bowl the seventh over
India 40/2 in 6 overs: A brilliant sixth over by Pretorious. He conceded just a run.
Dwaine Pretorious to bowl the sixth and last over of the powerplay
India 39/2 in 5 overs: Jansen starts with a no-ball and it a free-hit for India. FOUR! Optimum utilization of the free hit by Kishan as he sends the ball to the long leg fence. FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries for Kishan. OFF THE MARK! Pant takes a single off the very first ball he faces. He needs to stick around for his team today. 12 runs off the over.
Jansen to bowl his third over
India 27/2 in 4 overs: A good over by Ngidi till now. He has conceded just two runs from four balls. An economical second over from Ngidi. Just three runs from the over.
Ngidi to bowl his second over
India 24/2 in 3 overs: SIX! What a start to the over by Kishan. A powerful shot on his backfoot, he sends the ball over midwicket for the maximum. FOUR! A skilfull shot by Iyer as he edges a four past a diving De Kock. South Africa review for a LBW as the ball strikes Iyer's pads! OUT! Iyer departs. South Africa was very confident while taking the review and for good reason.
Jansen to bowl his second over
Shreyas Iyer has come in at No 3
India 13/1 in 2 overs: WIDE! Ngidi, playing after a long time, starts with a wide. FOUR! Gaikwad gets his first boundary as he finds the gap between point and cover.. OUT! Ngidi strikes as Gaikwad makes his way back to the pavilion.
Lungi Ngidi to bowl the second over
India 8/0 in 1 over: WIDE! Jansen starts with a wide. OFF THE MARK! India takes its first run of the match. FOUR! Great wrist work by Kishan as he drives the ball to the leg-side boundary.
Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad to open the innings for the men in blue. Marco Jansento bowl the first over for South Africa.
7:00 pm- AND WE ARE UNDERWAY!!
6:55 pm- Five minutes to go!!
6:32 pm- Team news for the match!!
India: Rishabh Pant says that India will field an unchanged team from its last match.
South Africa: Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Reeza Hendricks miss out. Marco Jansen , Quinton de Kock, and Lungi Ngidi return.
6:30 pm- TOSS RESULT!!
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma wins the toss again and chooses to bowl.
6:15 pm- What the players said!
What they said
6:00 pm- Form Guide for both the teams!
India: WLLWW
South Africa: LWWWW
5:45 pm- IND vs SA DREAM11 FANTASY TEAM
Wicket-keepers: Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock
Batters: David Miller, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (c) , Shreyas Iyer
All-rounders: Dwaine Pretorius, Hardik Pandya (vc)
Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Team Composition: IND 6:5 SA Credits Left: 1.0
5:30 pm- Predicted XI for both teams!
India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c) (wk), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Heinrich Klaasen, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi.
5:15 pm- Head-to-Head record!
In the last five matches between the two teams, South Africa has three wins compared to India's two. In the last match, India beat South Africa by 48 runs.
MATCH PREVIEW
After producing a clinical performance with a 48-run win in Visakhapatnam, India will look to build on the momentum to try and level the series against South Africa in the fourth T20I here at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Friday.
The home team will take a lot of heart from the fact that its bowlers stepped up to the challenge in the last match with leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal finding his mojo.
Chahal’s attacking approach with more focus on his leg-breaks fetched him three wickets in the middle overs and put the brakes on South Africa’s chase before Harshal Patel cleaned up the lower order.
RELATED | India beats South Africa by 48 runs, stays alive in series
On the batting front, openers Ishan Kisha and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave the perfect start with a 97-run opening wicket stand in 10 overs. But the Men in Blue will also be wary of the fact that they did not finish the innings strongly after scoring only 82 in the second half and almost lost the plot until Hardik Pandya’s heroics.
After a useful cameo in the first match, Rishabh Pant has failed to bring out the fireworks that he is capable of in the last two games and the team will hope the skipper can deliver the goods on Friday.
The pitch in Rajkot has historically been a batting-friendly venue with high scores in the three T20 international matches played here.
But as seen in the last match at Visakhapatnam, India wouldn't mind a pitch that is on the slower side where their skilful spinners can tie things down during the middle phase of the innings.
Even as both sides desperately fight to win the ongoing series, they will also be cognizant of the big picture in using these matches to prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup later in the year in Australia.
The hosts have fielded an unchanged playing eleven in the first three matches but could be tempted to test either left-arm pacer Arshadeep Singh or Umran Malik for Avesh Khan who has not picked up a wicket so far.
ALSO READ | IND vs SA T20Is: South Africa batter Markram ruled out of remainder of series
For South Africa, Quinton de Kock, who missed the last two games to a wrist injury, practised on Thursday though it remains to be seen if he is match-fit yet.
Despite being outplayed in the last match, the visitors will feel confident going into this match as there are no obvious areas of concern.
While the Proteas would want to seal a historic series win here itself, India, facing another must-win game, has shown it has enough firepower to be able to force the series into a decider.
The stage is set for another exciting encounter with the match set to start at 7 p.m.
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