IND vs SA : Virat Kohli, Batting at 49 Denies a Single, Asks Dinesh Karthik to Keep the Strike for the Last 2 Balls

India defeated South Africa in the second match of the T20 series at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, by a margin of 16 runs and gained a formidable lead of 2-0 in the three-match T20I series against South Africa, on Sunday. India posted a daunting total of 238/3 on the board in 20 overs.

South Africa fought quite well on the pitch but were stopped at 221 runs while they were chasing a 238 run target set by the Indian cricket team. David Miller played a sensational innings and contributed towards chasing India’s daunting score of 238 runs. The ‘killer’ Miller, scored an unbeaten 106 off 47 deliveries. Quinton de Kock, a class batter from South Africa, also played a sensational innings. He scored a formidable total of 69 runs off 48 deliveries.

Former captain of the Indian cricket team and the run machine of India, Virat Kohli stormed back into his form and scored an intimidating total of 49 off just 28 deliveries. Virat Kohli’s partnership with the middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav annihilated the South African pacers who were trying their best to pick the wickets off. The batting duo of India not only led India to a daunting total of 238 runs but also managed to break an incredible partnership record between MS Dhoni and KL Rahul for scoring maximum runs in partnership in the short format games.

Scoring a daunting total of 49 runs, the former skipper of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, denied hitting off his half-century and deliberately gave the strike off to Dinesh Karthik in the final over. The selfless move by the veteran cricketer has won a million hearts on the internet. During the final over of the match, Dinesh Karthik approached Virat Kohli to change the strike, giving Kohli a chance to complete his half century. But, King Kohli refused the opportunity and asked Dinesh Karthik to finish off the innings against South Africa in his own style. The video that was later shared by the BCCI has been winning hearts on the internet.

The heart-warming moment was not just a great display of sportsman spirit but also reminded the viewers about the majestic spell of T20 against South Africa in the 2014 semi-finals where MS Dhoni deliberately played a dot ball on the final delivery of the 19th over to make Virat Kohli play the winning shot against South Africa.

India’s playing XI in the 3rd T20I against South Africa :

Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj

South Africa’s playing XI in the 3rd T20I against India :

Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs