The Indian player Ruturaj Gaikwad scored his first century in one-day international cricket during the second ODI versus South Africa. The right-handed batsman made a great contribution of 105 runs as the Indian team, referred to as the Men in Blue, put up a massive total of 358 runs. However, India was defeated by South Africa in the last over by 4 wickets.
During the post-match ceremony, Gaikwad described his maiden ODI hundred as his best, the reason being he had to bat at number four, which is difficult for the opener.
“Yes (if it was his best knock). Batting at number four is a challenge for me.”
The Indian player also disclosed the details of his batting strategy. “In ODI format, even while I was opening, I always wanted to bat till 40-45 overs and capitalize after that. I know how to play 11-40 overs and rotate strike, find my boundary options. It was just about playing the first 10-15 balls well and keep the process. Whenever I’m set, I try to make it long.”
“I was not able to do much in the last Vijay Hazare Trophy and had many things going on in my mind. I thought for this year my thought was to stay consistent with my runs, be it in club cricket, white-ball or red-ball cricket. If I get a chance, well and good otherwise, still well and good,” Gaikwad added.
Gaikwad talked about management supporting him as a player who can bat at number four.
“I received a number four batting order for this series, and I must say that I am being encouraged to enjoy my game. I think it is excellent to have such trust in an opener who can bat at four from the management. I hope my performance in the last match will be good too. The coach told me to enjoy the game and play my natural game,” Indian batter expressed.
The South Africans opted to bat first, and they had the host team at 62/2 after the fall of Rohit Sharma (14) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (22). India’s dominance in the game was due to Virat (102 in 93 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Ruturaj (105 in 83 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes) who formed a 195-run partnership for the third wicket.
Then, KL Rahul (66* in 43 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (24* in 27 balls, with two fours) very quickly added 69 runs for the sixth wicket to the total in a stylish way and they finished off the innings.
The Proteas’ Marco Jansen (2/63) was declared the best bowler of the match.
The South Africans began their pursuit of the target with a lot of boundaries, but they lost Quinton de Kock quite early on. Temba Bavuma, the captain, (46 in 48 balls, 3 fours and 1 six) then teamed up with Aiden Markram for 101 runs. Markram completed his fourth ODI century and first as an opener, with 110 runs off 98 balls, including 10 fours and 4 sixes.
A further 92 run partnership developed between Matthew Breetzke (68 in 64 balls, with 5 fours) and Dewald Brevis (54 in 34 balls, with a 4 and 5 sixes) who severely tilted the match in favor of the Proteas. In the end, though, the injuries of Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi made things easier for India, Keshav Maharaj (10) and Corbin Bosch (25) taking SA to a memorable win with four wickets and four balls remaining.
For India, Arshdeep Singh was the best bowler with figures of 2/54, while Harshit Rana’s (1/70) numbers went from bad to worse after he had one very poor over. Prasidh Krishna also had a bad day, giving away 82 runs in 8 overs.
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