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Men in Blue (Image Source: Twitter)
The India- South Africa T20I series hangs in balance with both teams winning two games each. After losing the first two games, the men in blue made a great comeback and levelled the innings. The fifth game has now become a series decider and both teams would be looking to clinch the series with a win at Bangalore.
A great comeback has also excited fans who now hope for a series win as well. The same sentiment was on display when the Indian players reached their hotel after the fourth T20I win against South Africa. While coming back, Indian players were welcomed with Raas Garba at the entrance of their hotel.
💠રાજકોટમાં ખંઢેરી સ્થિત સૌરાષ્ટ્ર ક્રિકેટ એસોસિયેશન સ્ટેડિયમ ખાતે દક્ષિણ આફ્રિકા સાથેની નિર્ણાયક મેચમાં જીત મેળવ્યા બાદ ભારતના ક્રિકેટરોનું ગુજરાતી પરંપરા અનુસાર રાસ ગરબાની રમઝટ સાથે ઉત્સાહભેર સ્વાગત#Rajkot #INDvSA #Cricket#AIRVideo: જયદીપ પંડ્યા pic.twitter.com/buB4rCU1bw
— AIR News Gujarat (@airnews_abad) June 18, 2022
🏏હોટલમાં ખેલાડીઓ પ્રવેશતાની સાથે જ કેક કાપીને ભારતની શાનદાર જીતની ઉજવણી કરવામાં આવી હતી#Rajkot #INDvSA #Cricket #AIRVideo: જયદીપ પંડ્યા pic.twitter.com/YsluoSQvP2
— AIR News Gujarat (@airnews_abad) June 18, 2022
The victory was do-or-die for the Men in Blue but it was also special for another reason. In the last two games played at the Saurashtra Stadium against South Africa, the visitors came out as winners. This is the first time that India was able to defeat the Proteas team. The hotel had also arranged for a cake-cutting ceremony to commemorate the important win.
Speaking of the game, it was a clinical performance from the Indian team. Asked to bat first, the Indian team lost their opener Ruturaj Gaikwad early on at the score of just 13. Ishan Kishan(27) was the only top-order batter to contribute some runs to the score. The batting collapse however was stopped by the in-form duo of Hardik Pandya (46) and Dinesh Karthik (55) who took the Indian total to 169/6.
The Indian bowling unit was even more impressive after Quinton de Kock run out. The floodgates were opened and Indian bowlers took regular wickets to stop the South African team at a puny score of 87. Avesh Khan with his career-best figure of 4-18-4 was the best bowler. Yuzvdndra Chahal also shoulders massive credit for choking the South African’s batting lineup with 4-21-2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel game just 11 runs in their 4 overs combined. India- South Africa are to play the series decider on June 19th in Bangalore.