Johannesburg: Opener Shikhar Dhawan (109, 105b, 10×4, 2×6) continued his rich vein of form scoring a magnificent century in his 100th ODI game as India post 289 for seven in the fourth ODI at the Wanderers here, Saturday.
Dhawan, became the ninth batsman in the world and first among the Indians to score a century in 100th career ODI match, added a splendid 158 runs for the second wicket with skipper Virat Kohli (75, 83b, 7×4, 1×6) who too continued his rich vein of form.
However, the lean patch continues for Rohit Sharma as he was yet again dismissed by pacer Kagiso Rabada (2/58). With the scoreboard reading 20/1 in four overs, Kohli joined his Delhimate to continue their dominating run.
After struggling mostly in the initial overs, Dhawan went on to hit flurry of boundaries while Kohli, coming fresh from an unbeaten 160 in the third ODI, continued where he left in the last game.
The duo played some, sensible cricket, ticking singles and doubles and boundaries at regular intervals. It was looking like both the batsman will reach the three-figure mark. But Kohli, after getting room outside the off stump, went for a costly lofted hit on the up.
Unfortunately, he ended up giving an easy catch to David Miller. It was however the extra bounce of Chris Morris (1/60) that did the job for the hosts.
After his departure, Ajinkya Rahane (8) joined Dhawan and the duo added 22 runs when the umpires stopped the play for 51 minutes due to lightning and dark cloud, as the scoreboard reads 200/2 in 34.2 overs.
However, this was the break which shattered the Indian momentum as Dhawan got out soon after the resumption, in the 36th over. Rahane too got out in the next over as from 200/2, before the interruption, India came down to 210/4.
The experienced MS Dhoni (42 n o, 43b, 3×4, 1×6) then made a crucial 37-run stand for the fifth wicket with Shreyas Iyer (18), who was brought into the squad in place of Kedar Jadhav. After Iyer’s dismissal, Hardik Pandya too failed to partner Dhoni.
The veteran however, held his nerves to take his side to a total, which might be proved enough when the hosts will begin their chase.
Agencies
