After putting up a brilliant show with the bat in the opening encounter, the Men in Blue failed to replicate the show as action shifted from New Delhi to Cuttack. The team could only pile 148/6 on the board after being asked to bat first, with Shreyas Iyer's 35-ball 40 emerging as the highest individual score from the Indian camp.
However, one thing that certainly left the Indian fans delighted was Dinesh Karthik's finishing abilities. The 37-year-old scored an unbeaten 30 off 21 deliveries, guiding India to a respectable total with tail-ender Harshal Patel on the other end.
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Karthik started off his innings comparatively slow but it was the two big sixes in the final over against Dwaine Pretorius, which grabbed everyone's attention. In fact, Karthik had just managed to score 9 in the first 16 deliveries he faced, while he gathered another 21 in the other five balls before India ran out of overs.
Harshal Patel (12 not out from nine balls) gave him a good company as the duo improved the Indian run-rate stitching together 36 runs from the last three overs to give them some respite.
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{{/usCountry}}The Indian batters struggled barring a small 45-run second wicket partnership between Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer.
-with PTI inputs