India captain Virat Kohli has always been known to be a complete team-man. So, when he wasn’t fit to play the final T20I against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday, he decided to give opener Shikhar Dhawan a head massage.
Taking to Twitter, a fan posted the photo which read: “Virat Kohli transferring his skills to Shikhar Dhawan. What a captain #IndvsSA”. Suresh Raina and Dhawan starred with the bat but it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who again held his nerve in the end as India sealed the T20I series with a sensational 7-run win over South Africa in Cape Town.
Virat Kohli transferring his skills to Shikhar Dhawan. What a captain #IndvsSA pic.twitter.com/ZX9bnrDfyc
— Naveen Samy (@ImNsamy) February 24, 2018
India suffered an early blow as the stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma again departed early, but then Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan made most of some ordinary South African bowling. Raina played counter-attacking innings but Shihar played the anchor role with perfection.
Also read: Bhuvneshwar foxes Hendricks, Dhawan HelpedSouthpaw Raina scored a quickfire 43 off just 27 balls, Pandya(21) and Karthik (13) chipped in with the runs towards the end as India finished their innings at 172/7. South Africa bowled well in patches with Junior Dala again impressive with his raw pace, as he picked up 3/35 in his 4 overs.
Morris’ second spell was pretty impressive as he finished with figures of 2/43. South Africa never really got into the chase as they got off to a horrendous start, losing in-form Reeza Hendricks early. Miller looked dull, failing to find boundaries as the home team struggled to get any momentum.
Hero of the 2nd T20I Henrich Klaasen couldn’t contribute much either as he departed for 7. Duminy kept on standing on the other side and fought a lone battle for South Africa, scoring 55 off just 41 balls, including hitting Axar Patel for 16 off 1 over.
Also read: Raina thanked Kohli for promotion at threeRains’ all-around performance
India used the slower balls to perfection and Suresh Raina chipped in with 3 overs, giving away only 27 runs and also picked the priced wicket of David Miller. Just when it seemed India would easily register a win, debutant Christiaan Jonker played a blinder which almost took his team in sight of victory.
South Africa managed to get 45 runs from the three overs preceding the final one, meaning they required 19 off the final over. Despite giving away a boundary, Bhuvneshwar Kumar held his nerve as India went onto win by 7 runs, with Jonker’s 24-ball 49 going in vain.
