Shikhar Dhawan on Sunday notched up his second fifty of the ongoing ODI series to put India in command during the 287-chase against South Africa at Cape Town. The left-handed opener reached his 35th half-century in the format and hit five fours and a six en route to the landmark.
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Chasing 287 to salvage a disastrous South Africa tour with a win, India were jolted with an early blow in the form of KL Rahul, who perished for nine after his willow took a thick outside edge and it went straight to Janneman Malan at first slip. The Indian run-chase was steadied by Virat Kohli, who initially played second fiddle but accelerated his innings with time.
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A fifty partnership between Dhawan & Kohli helped India in going past the 100 mark. The Delhi batting pair, meanwhile, went past MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina on the list of most 50-plus partnerships for India by a left-right handed pair. The Dhawan-Kohli combination now has 28 50-plus stands under its belt, one more than Dhoni & Raina's tally of 27.
The duo of Sourav Ganguly & Sachin Tendulkar heads the list with 55 fifty-plus partnerships to its name, followed by Rohit Sharma & Dhawan (32) and Ganguly & Rahul Dravid (29).
{{/usCountry}}The duo of Sourav Ganguly & Sachin Tendulkar heads the list with 55 fifty-plus partnerships to its name, followed by Rohit Sharma & Dhawan (32) and Ganguly & Rahul Dravid (29).
{{/usCountry}}Dhawan, who departed after scoring 61 from 73 deliveries, also ticked off a personal milestone. He equalled former India opener Virender Sehwag for most fifty-plus scores for India in the ODI format. Both the openers have 52 fifty-plus innings to their name.
Earlier, Quinton de Kock hit a brilliant century for South Africa to help them post a challenging total on the scoreboard. De Kock made 124 off 130 balls to lift his team from 70 for three. He teamed up with Rassie van der Dussen (52) in a fourth-wicket stand of 144.
On the bowling front, Prasidh Krishna, one of four changes in the Indian team, took three for 59 while Bumrah and Deepak Chahar took two wickets each. Suryakumar Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Deepak Chahar and Krishna came into the Indian team in place of Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Seeking a clean sweep in the three-match series, South Africa decided to go with just one change, giving chance to all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius in place left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.