South Africa took a 2-0 lead with wins in Delhi and Cuttack, but defeats in Vizag and Rajkot pushed them back in the ongoing T20I series.
Keshav Maharaj of South Africa. credit: AP
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- South Africa lost to India by 82 runs on Friday
- Rassi van der Dussen scored 20 runs for the Proteas
- Final match will be on Sunday
South African spinner Keshav Maharaj admitted that his team needs to be more proactive. On Friday, 17 June, Proteas lost the fourth and final match of the T20I series by 82 runs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium (SCA) in Rajkot.
After being asked to chase down 170, the visitors could only manage to score 87/9. Barring Quinton de Kock, Rasie van der Dussen and Marco Jansson, none of the Proteas batsmen came in double digits. Among them, right-hander van der Dussen top-scored with a delivery of 20.
Maharaj admitted that South Africa are looking bad in the batting department. He also praised Dinesh Karthik, who scored 55 runs in 27 balls with the help of nine fours and two sixes. On the basis of Karthik’s innings, India came back after being reduced to 81/4.
“We thought we got better in the back of the innings but our performance with the ball was poor from above. Perhaps it was this lack of proactivity that we needed to address. We never went ahead with the bat, there was no foundational partnership and their bowlers were good. DK played very well. I am bowling well. Hope it continues. We expect it to be a firecracker in Bengaluru,” Maharaj was quoted as saying.
South Africa took a 2–0 lead in the series with victories in Delhi and Cuttack, but lost much of the momentum after losing games in Vizag and Rajkot.
The fifth and final match of the series is to be held on Sunday, June 19 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.