India were on course to chase down 297 against South Africa in Paarl with Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli going strong but they lost their way in the middle overs.
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KL Rahul had a tough Test on ODI captaincy debut in the first match at Paarl against South Africa. The Proteas were reduced to 70/3 in the 18th over. But, a partnership of 204 between Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma boosted South Africa. Bavuma and van der Dussen hit centuries, with van der Dussen smashing his highest individual score of 129. In the entire innings, he did not bowl debutant Venkatesh Iyer who is known as a bowling all-rounder. During the chase, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan kept India in the hunt with fifties.
Once they were dismissed, the middle order failed to stitch some partnerships as India lost by 31 runs. The lack of middle-order partnerships after the dismissal of Virat Kohli hurt India in a big way. It was this particular aspect that Rahul focused on after the end of the match.
“Virat and Shikhar told that it was a good wicket to bat on. You just had to spend some time in the middle. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the partnership going. They did really well and put pressure on the bowlers. We couldn’t get those wickets in the middle. 290+ was 20 runs extra. But we just needed more partnerships in the middle,” KL Rahul said.
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Even with the ball, Rahul said lack of wickets in the middle overs hurt India. “We started off really well. But, we couldn’t get wickets in the middle. We’ll look to see how we get wickets in the middle overs and stop the opposition. The middle-order couldn’t get going,” Rahul said.
Shikhar Dhawan looked in great touch while Kohli was in fine form with 50. But, the dismissals of both the players by the spinners turned the match totally. Dhawan, in particular, was coming off a list of poor scores in the Vijay Hazare Trophy managing just 56 runs in five matches. There were questions on his spot but Dhawan responded in a big way.
“I have full confidence in myself that what my game is and I have clarity on that and I stay quite calm. And this is part of life, this happens in life, everyone’s life has ups and downs, so it is nothing new and happening for the first time or for the last time in my career or my life, so it is alright, that only makes me stronger. I don’t listen to the media or don’t read newspapers or watch news, that way I don’t take all that information,” Dhawan stated.
The second ODI will take place in Paarl on January 21. The final match will take place in Cape Town on January 23.
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