Rishabh Pant has blasted the highest individual score by an Indian keeper in ODIs in South Africa as India ended on 287/6 in the second ODI in Paarl.
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Rishabh Pant continued his magnificent form in the tour of South Africa. After becoming the first keeper to hit a century in Tests in South Africa, Pant created another slice of history in Paarl. His 85, the highest by an Indian keeper in ODIs against South Africa, combined with KL Rahul’s 55 and a blitz of 40 from Shardul Thakur helped India reach 287/6 in the second ODI on Friday. South Africa took four hours to complete their quota of 50 overs, with the heat and humidity taking a toll. But, South Africa will be ruing the fact that they were poor in the field and lacked intensity.
KL Rahul won the toss and chose to bat, with the Indian team remaining unchanged. For South Africa, Marco Jansen was rested and Sisanda Magala was drafted in. It was Magala who struggled with his line and length and the openers made great progress. Shikhar Dhawan, who hit 79 in the first ODI, got going with two fours off Magala. Rahul also started aggressively, having benefited from a dropped catch by Janneman Malan on 8.
Dhawan and Rahul were going at a good rate and the partnership raced past 60. The scoring rate was also near six. But, Aiden Markram broke the dangerous stand when Dhawan slog-swept to deep midwicket for 29.
Virat Kohli came and expectations were very high. But, five balls later, he chipped a flighted ball from Keshav Maharaj to cover to fall for 0. This was the first time since the West Indies ODI in Vizag in 2019 that Kohli had fallen for a duck. It was the first time since 2013 that Kohli fell for a duck against South Africa.
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India could have been three down but Maharaj and Andile Phehlukwayo botched a run-out of Rahul. Another round of miscommunication saw Pant almost getting run-out. But, the left-hander eased the pressure by hammering Maharaj for a big six. Pant was in fine form, hammering boundaries at will as Rahul played the ideal second foil.
Pant upped the ante with three boundaries in one over off Tabraiz Shamsi and he notched up his fifty off just 43 balls. Rahul was given his third life when he was dropped by Aiden Markram at backward point on 46. The Indian captain duly notched up his fifty. At the other end, Pant hammered a four and six off Shamsi.
After the drinks break, Rahul suffered a lapse in concentration and he ended up getting a leading edge to midwicket for 55. Immediately, Pant holed out on 85 with Shamsi getting the wicket. Venkatesh Iyer showed his potential with a six off Magala but Shreyas Iyer departed cheaply for 11. Venkatesh benefited from more poor fielding from South Africa, with Rassie van der Dussen dropping him on 14.
Shardul Thakur, who got his eye in, signaled his intention by hammering Phehlukwayo for a six. Venkatesh Iyer looked good but he was stumped by Quinton de Kock off Phehlukwayo for 22. Thakur was joined by Ravichandran Ashwin and both players took the attack to the Proteas bowling. Ashwin hit a six off Maharaj while Thakur got going with a couple of boundaries.
Although South Africa conceded just 70 runs in the last 10 overs, they could have restricted India to a lesser score had they held on to their chances. South Africa will now have to rewrite the record books in Paarl if they have to win a series against India for the first time since 2015.
