IND vs SA Live Update: On Friday, June 17, Dinesh Karthik broke the record for the oldest Indian batter to reach fifty in men’s Twenty20 International cricket. The 37-year-old player scored his first fifty runs in the shortest format of the game at the international level during his 36th Twenty20 International (T20I) match. This milestone occurred 16 years after the player made his debut for India in T20I.
Dinesh Karthik went into beast mode in the last overs of the fourth Twenty20 International match of a five-match series that is currently being played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. He hit 55 runs in only 27 balls while taking the attack to the bowlers for South Africa. Karthik’s strike rate was above 200. He hit two sixes and nine boundaries throughout his innings. [ IND vs SA Live Update ]
What’s the story?
Karthik and his vice-captain, Hardik Pandya, put on 65 runs together while batting together in the middle for 5.3 overs, which contributed to the total number of runs scored by the pair. He and Hardik ripped through the South African bowling attack, allowing India to score 113 runs in the last 10 overs after scoring just 56 runs in the first 10 overs.
Karthik hit a sensational six in the twenty-first over of India’s innings against Dwaine Pretorious. This helped him reach his first fifty in a Twenty20 International. Karthik singled out the Chennai Super Kings pacer and battered him all over the field. [ IND vs SA Live Update ]
Karthik displayed his versatility by sweeping the spinners, reverse-sweeping them, cutting the pacers, pulling them, and pummeling them into the stands with ease as the fans chanted “DK…DK.”
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With his score of 55 off just 27 balls, Karthik broke the record for the oldest Indian hitter to reach fifty in the shortest format of the game. After scoring his second fifty in a Twenty20 International match against South Africa in 2022, when he is 36 years old, he eclipsed MS Dhoni, who had held the record up until Friday.
IND vs SA Live Update: Dinesh Karthik plays a gem of an innings
After winning the toss and deciding to field first, South Africa dismissed India’s skipper Rishabh Pant for 17 runs in the 13th over of their innings. This put India in a precarious situation. In the current series, Pant’s struggles persisted as the wicketkeeper-batsman was unable to get going despite spending more than 20 deliveries in the middle. [ IND vs SA Live Update ]
OLDEST INDIANS TO HIT T20I FIFTIES
37 years, 16 days – Dinesh Karthik v South Africa, 2022*
36 years, 229 days – MS Dhoni v South Africa in 201
35 years and 1 day- Shikhar Dhawan vs Australia in 2020
Nevertheless, Karthik went into the middle and kept the scoreboard going from the very beginning. This relieved the strain that was being placed on Hardik. He was playing the role of the lone warrior in his partnership with Pant.
In India’s must-win match, both Hardik and Karthik seized leadership in the last five overs. Their team scored 74 runs in the last 30 balls of their innings. This allowed India to register 169 on the scoreboard. [ IND vs SA Live Update ]
Here is how CSK Reacted:
Kar✅ing off the maiden 5️⃣0️⃣ off the bucket list! 🥳#INDvSA #WhistlePodu 🦁
📸 : @BCCI pic.twitter.com/GbKt67CM7l— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) June 17, 2022
