Page 42 - The Indian EYE 062422

SPORTS JUNE 24, 2022 | The Indian Eye 42

SOUTH AFRICA IN INDIA

Men in Blue finally find their touch

as young guns fire at the right time

As the South Africans take on India in a five-match T20I series, we bring you all the action from the field – and off it

OUR BUREAU
Visakhapatnam
ndia skipper Rishabh Pant lav-
ished praise on his team for their
Iall-round performance which
helped them defeat South Africa in
the third T20I of five-match series.
All-round performance by India
helped them in defeating South Afri-
ca by 48 runs in the third T20I of five-
match series at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara
Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium
in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. “The
execution was spot-on from the bowl-
ers and the batters. We were 15 runs
short, but we weren’t thinking about
that. Bowlers did a fantastic job for
us. In India, spinners play a big role
and there is pressure on them, when
they come off nicely then matches
like this happen,” said Pant in a post-
match presentation.

“When you get a good start,
it’s difficult for a new batter

to come in and go big straight
away. We lost too many wickets. Ruturaj Gaikwad plays a shot during the 3rd T20I match between India and South Africa (ANI Photo/ BCCI Twitter)
We’ll look to improve in the next
In reply, the Proteas never not up to the mark and they did not tried to assess, tried to get some mo-
match. We have to make sure looked like going as they kept los- put forward their best efforts. mentum, unfortunately, we couldn’t do
that we finish the game with ing wickets at regular intervals and An all-round performance by In- that. Losing three early wickets always
puts us under pressure,” he added.
in the end were bundled out for 131 dia helped them in defeating South Af-
a bigger margin,” he added. with five balls still to play. For Men in rica by 48 runs in the third T20I of five- South Africa are currently play-
Blue, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal match series at Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara ing without their star wicketkeep-
India have opened their account Patel starred with the ball as they Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium er-batter Quinton de Kock as he sus-
in the five-match T20I series with this bagged three and four wickets re- in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. “As tained a wrist injury during the first
win in the do-or-die clash. With the spectively to derail the visitors’ chase. a collective, it wasn’t our best effort. T20I match on June 9 and was forced
series still 2-1 in favour of the visitors, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Axar Patel They were the better side. With the to miss the second and the third clash.
the fourth T20I will be played on Fri- scalped one wicket apiece. ball, they put us under pressure. The “Quinton is an integral member of
day at Saurashtra Cricket Associa- ‘WASN’T OUR BEST EFFORT’, fielding really didn’t back us up. With the team. Unfortunately, we don’t have
tion Stadium, Gujarat. the batting, we didn’t really turn up. him. We back Reeza at the top. The
Batting first, a 97-run stand be- RECKONS SA SKIPPER The partnerships weren’t there, there opportunity is there, we’ll keep going
tween Ruturaj Gaikwad (57) and BAVUMA was no momentum. There have been with Reeza,” said the Proteas skipper.
Ishan Kishan (54) powered India to a lot of improvements in the fielding India have opened their account
179/5 in their allotted 20 overs. The fter facing a 48-run defeat department, this game we weren’t up in the five-match T20I series with this
first innings was a see-saw one as India against India in the third T20I to the mark, in the first two games we win in the do-or-die clash. With the
dominated the first half of the innings, Aof the five-match series, South were quite strong,” said Bavuma in a series still 2-1 in favour of the visitors,
but South Africa pulled back momen- Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said post-match presentation. the fourth T20I will be played on Fri-
tum to their side in the other half. that the performance by his team was “Thoughts coming out to bat, we Continued at next page... >>

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