India Vs South Africa, 3rd T-20 : Match Review
South Africa leveled the series after a crushing victory by 9 wickets over India. After winning the toss, Virat Kohli surprised everyone by opting to bat first on a ground which is famous for chase. According to him, he wanted to test his batting unit under testing conditions and they have the upcoming world T-20 in mind. Here's a small review of the game. Let's see how things went on.
The toss
Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first. The decision was surprising as the venue has a magnificent chasing record. The surface was dry with some cracks on it. Virat Kohli explained his decision to bat first. He said "We all know it's a chasing ground and we are one of the best chasing team in the world but we want to improve ourself in certain areas keeping the world t-20 in mind. We are looking forward to strengthening ourselves while batting first".'Dhawan'derful start
Indian openers walked out in the middle and things got off the way with a juicy delivery down the leg side which Shikhar Dhawan tickled down to fine leg boundary. Rohit escaped a close LBW call off the fifth ball of the inning. Rabada had a horrible start where he leaked 17 runs of his first over, 7 were wides (including a wide that went for four). Hendricks removed Rohit in the next over and the crowed welcomed Virat Kohli just like they usually do. The partnership between Dhawan and Kohli yielded a quick 41 and India finished the powerplays on a high. Dhawan targetted Shamsi with twin sixes in the sixth over but Shamsi came back and avenged it by removing Dhawan in the eighth over. Collapse
Indian inning collapsed after the departure of Dhawan. Kohli followed him soon and Indian middle-order consisting of Pant, Iyer and Pandya brothers failed collectively. India was reduced to 98 for 6 in the 15th over from a point where a score in excess of 180 looked a possibility. Rishabh Pant failed to capitalize on a start once again. The way Hardik Pandya struck the first ball to long-on, felt like he's in for something big but it was not his day. Ravindra Jadeja fought till the end and it was his useful inning of 19 that led India to a respectable total in the end.The chase
South Africa got off to a flier thanks to Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks. The opening pair gunned down 76 runs off the target in first 10 overs. Hendricks departed after a well made 28 but De Kock carried on till the end. There was a bit of movement for the Indian pacers early in the inning but the opening pair of South Africa weathered the initial storm without much trouble. Temba Bavuma joined De Kock in the middle after the departure of Hendricks. While he ticked the scoreboard from one end, De Kock did most of the damage. India lost an important review in the third over against Reeza Hendricks and that came back to haunt them later in the inning. This moment played a massive part in the game. Quinton de Kock missed a sweep of Washington Sundar. An appeal was made and was rejected by the umpire. Later it was revealed that it was out but India had no reviews left and De Kock survived. At this point, de Kock was batting on 29. He went on to make a 79 not out which stole the game away from India.
The author has given a good review of the match which our boys lost. If we won this match we might have won the series. But now it is levelled 1-1 as one match was abandoned. Both Kohli and Rohit failed. This was a chance for young players to show their talent and see that good score is made. But they proved that they are not having the patience to settle in the crease and score runs. I think the Indian selectors should think and they should stop giving many chances to the players who are playing without any commitment and who are in a hurry. Many good players are waiting for their chance to get a berth in the playing eleven.
In this particular match, India failed in all the departments. No batsman or bowler proved that they are good. Anyhow it is a lesson to the people and they should learn from this loss and should make amends to their method of playing so that they will be successful.