On Sunday, the final of the Nidahas Trophy at the R Premadasa Stadium was a nail-biting encounter. Even till the final ball of the match, the pendulum kept swinging from one side to the other, but it was some brilliant hitting from Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik who landed the knockout punch on Bangladesh with a last-ball six and clinch the title for India and finish their highly successful season in style.
It was all Karthik on social media after the breathtaking victory and he deserved it, to say the least. It was some finish of a lifetime by the right-hander. When he walked in middle in the 18th over, many would have thought it’s a lost cause for the men in blue. Scoring 34 off the last 2 overs in the final of an international tournament is one of the toughest tasks to do for any team on a cricket field. But Karthik displayed the never-say-never attitude the Indian management has been talking about right through this season.
Also read: Dinesh Karthik was quite upset for his batting order demotion
Not only did he score 29 out of those 34 runs in just 8 balls, the quality of shots that he played to get them was of high class. He picked his spots with maturity and the calmness under pressure which was refreshing to see for the Indian fans as it was after a while that they saw someone other than MS Dhoni keeping his cool as well as that.
Karthik during his impactful knock showed his full range as a batsman. He went long on, he went midwicket, he went square leg, he then scooped it over the short fine leg and eventually he won it for India with a lofted extra cover drive which went for a flat six and it was just a knock off 8 deliveries.
Also read: Twitter Reactions: Nidahas Trophy Final
It might have come against Bangladesh in subcontinent conditions, but one has to agree that it ne one of the best all-time finishes by an Indian batsman in white-ball cricket. The Twitterati absolutely showered praise on Karthik for his heroic effort and dished out some absolute classic memes to pay tribute to the newly appointed KKR skipper.
Here are the 10 best memes and GIFs from last night’s game:
https://twitter.com/_marwadi/status/975419700250324992
Wow! What a win. 2 overs , 34 runs to win the finals , #DineshKarthik pic.twitter.com/lGJgxdMoT7
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 18, 2018
What happened to Bangladesh after #DineshKarthik entered the field… #INDvBAN #NidahasTrophy2018 #Vadivelu4Life @DineshKarthik pic.twitter.com/yzsP7czgvQ
— Chennai Times (@ChennaiTimesTOI) March 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/SRKsYODHA/status/975423831585079296
DINESH BHAI CHE ABKI BAAR 😂 pic.twitter.com/dvqhXHOe99
— VISHAL (@V1SH4L) March 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/firkiii/status/975430370412785665
#NidahasTrophy2018
Dinesh Karthik in #INDvBAN match be like : pic.twitter.com/hSXg6qD94W— Udtaa Teer (@UdtaaTeer_) March 18, 2018
Dinesh Karthik after saving Vijay Shankar's career. #INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/cd5Uj87qjx
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) March 18, 2018
MS Dhoni Or Dinesh Karthik Is Temporary. Bangladesh Getting Trolled On Last Ball Of The Match By Indian Wicket-keepers Is Permanent. Congrats Team India 💪🙏🇮🇳 #DineshKarthik #INDvBAN #INDvsBAN #BANvsIND #NidahasTrophy pic.twitter.com/0ZXvdKr4ct
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) March 18, 2018
Summary of yesterday's Knock#indvban #DineshKartik pic.twitter.com/lQvAjDYCno
— SAIRAM™ (@SairamTweetz) March 19, 2018