India defeated South Africa by 82 runs in the fourth match of the series. The Indian batting was saved by the brilliance of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik after they had faltered early on. To follow it up, the bowlers had a perfect outing as they comfortably defended the total. The Rishabh Pant-led team levelled the series 2-2 with this win. The series' destiny will now be decided in the final matchย in Bangalore.
Temba Bavuma won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium. The Indian batters did not get the best start as they lost a few early wickets. Rutaraj Gaikwad (five) and Shreyas Iyer (four) lost their wickets within the powerplay. The team managed 40 runs in the first six overs. Immediately after the powerplay, Ishan Kishan (27) also lost his wicket to Anrich Nortje. India then slowed down drastically with Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant in the middle.
They tried to hold on to the wicket for a while and added 41 runs to the partnership. Just as they were looking to take on the bowlers, Pant (17) lost his wicket in the 13th over. Dinesh Karthik walked in next and played a great game along with Hardik Pandya. Both attacked the bowlers to get some quick runs. They added 65 runs in the partnership in just 33 balls before Pandya (46) was dismissed.
Karthik, on the other hand, hit a six to clinch his maiden T20I half-century. He scored 55 runs in just 27 balls to help the team to a total of 169 runs in the first innings. In the chase, the Proteas also got off to a sluggish start. The powerplay resulted in two wickets and an injury to Temba Bavuma. They managed 35 runs in the first six overs. They were also unable to form any partnerships after that.
The varied bounce troubled the batters and put them under pressure. South Africa's wickets kept falling, and their in-form batters couldn't help them either. Avesh Khan was the bowling attack's pick as he returned the figures of 18/4 in his spell. Yuzvendra Chahal took two wickets, while Harshal Patel and Axar Patel took one wicket each. South Africa was dismissed for only 87 runs in the 17th over.
Here is how Twitter reacted
India Roars ๐ฅ
Bring on the Decider, please! Bengaluru gets ready to host #TeamIndia on Sunday.
Bois really played well. @BCCI #INDvSA #CricketTwitter #HarshalPatel #DineshKarthik #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/2SXJ1XYuiN
โ RCBIANS OFFICIAL (@RcbianOfficial) June 17, 2022
ย
Appreciation tweet for Pacer Avesh Khan. An impressive performance by him tonight. Hope he will do same for India in future.#AveshKhan #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/Vo2f78w4CJ
โ Cricket Addictor (@AbdullahNeaz) June 17, 2022
ย
๐ฎ๐ณ๐ช VICTORY IS OURS! We level the series 2-2 in style tonight. Excellent bowling from Avesh, Yuzi and others!
๐ Let's clinch the series in the decider, boys!
๐ธ BCCI โข #INDvSA #INDvsSA #TeamIndia #BharatArmy pic.twitter.com/iuEaFWbk54
โ The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) June 17, 2022
ย
Losing the first two games and won next two games!!!
Series equal. On the way to get win in Bangalore ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ณ#INDvSA #INDvsSA #India #dineshkartik #HarshalPatel #aveshkhan #RuturajGaikwad pic.twitter.com/WGad7VoDlHโ Naresh (@NareshKarubukta) June 17, 2022
ย
I wish NRR mattered in bilateral tournaments ๐
India wins by 81 runs#IndVsSA #dineshkartik #INDvSA #INDvsSA #RishabhPant #aveshkhan
โ GirlWhoLovesCricket (@soumids) June 17, 2022
ย
#INDvsSA 4th T20 | #India won by 82 runs against #SouthAfrica. Five match series at 2-2.
โ Pritesh ๐ฎ๐ณ (@prathod2008) June 17, 2022
ย
Chahal you bring us that Happiness..
Nortje ๐ "Namaste" & Bye๐#INDvSA #INDvsSA
โ Sport Enthusiast (@frolic_waseem) June 17, 2022
ย
#TeamIndia๐ฎ๐ณ beat South Africa by 82 runs, level the series 2-2 & the series goes into the DECIDER!#INDvSA | #MenInBlue | #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/qATgh1461x
โ Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) June 17, 2022
ย
No captain has ever won a 5 match series after losing first two matches , in Cricket history. Rishabh Pant has the golden chance to become the first skipper to do so. #INDvSA #INDvsSA #T20I Rajkot
Pandya
Harshal Patel
Bavuma pic.twitter.com/Gp5WXIMMgTโ Atul Tiwari (@iTiwariAtul) June 17, 2022
ย
Somewhere between DK making his T20I debut 15 years ago and being the player of the match in that game, to DK making a comeback and scoring his first T20I fifty and again winning man of the match #INDvsSA #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/fbZK3SaU3B
โ ๐๐ (@superking1818) June 17, 2022
ย
We did it!โค๏ธ๐ช#INDvsSA
โ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฒ๐๐ก | ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โค๏ธ (@Aaliya_Zain5) June 17, 2022
ย
India were 81-4 in 13 & on their way to make a sub par 140-odd in 20 overs. DK had other ideas. 55(27), 9 fours, 2 sixes. Naayagan Meendum Varaan! @mukundabhinav Once upon a time, there lived a ghost! ๐ #IndvsSA https://t.co/RrJtG8FLaQ
โ Agent Vikram (@SriniMaama16) June 17, 2022