Rajkot (TIP)- Dinesh Karthik scored his maiden T20I half-century almost 16 years after making his debut in the format to lead India to a series-levelling victory against South Africa in the fourth game here on June 17. Karthik and vice-captain Hardik Pandya took India to a fighting 169/6 before the bowlers skittled out South Africa for 87 in 16.5 overs.

The Indians were struggling at 81/4 before a 65-run stand between Pandya (46 off 31) and Karthik (55 off 27) brought the home team back into the game. India amassed 73 runs in the last five overs. South Africa put the Indians on the back foot in the powerplay despite the absence of their lead bowler Kagiso Rabada due to an injury. The other pacer who missed due to an injury was Wayne Parnell, while star opener Quinton de Kock made a welcome return at the expense of Reeza Hendricks. The first ball after the powerplay made matters worse for India as the hosts were reduced to 40/3 in 6.1 overs. Ishan Kishan (27) was dismissed by Anrich Nortje. When India lost captain Rishabh Pant (17), the hosts were struggling at 81/4 after 12.5 overs. However, Karthik and Pandya turned the tide with a crucial partnership. The Indian bowlers then kept the visitors in check to give India an 82-run victory. Pacer Avesh Khan picked up four wickets for 18 runs, while Yuzvendra Chahal (2/21) was at his miserly best. Harshal Patel and Axar Patel took one wicket each. England broke their own world record for the highest team total in one-day international (ODI) history after they smashed 498-4 in 50 overs against a hapless Netherlands side to win a one-sided contest by 232 runs in Amstelveen on Friday, June 17. Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Phil Salt notched up centuries while Liam Livingstone walked into bat in the 45th over and scored England’s fastest ODI fifty as they eclipsed their previous record of 481 against Australia in 2018. Malan (125) and Salt (122) laid the foundation for England’s record score with a 222-run partnership before Buttler (162 not out off 70 balls) came in and accelerated the scoring in what was a brutal onslaught on the Dutch bowlers. Buttler, who top scored in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season with 863 runs, continued where he left off, smashing seven fours and clearing the ropes 14 times after he was let off twice by poor Dutch fielding early in his innings. “It certainly feels like I’m in the form of my life. The IPL couldn’t have gone much better for me so I was feeling in good touch coming here,” Buttler said after he was named the man of the match. “It was a really good wicket, we got off to a good start and that gave me the licence to really attack.” Buttler brought up his century in just 47 balls, the second-fastest in England history and one ball shy of his own record. Needing to score at an eye-watering 10 per over to win, the Dutch side barely managed to score at half the required run rate before they were bowled out for 266, with Moeen Ali picking up three wickets.

Source: Reuters