Pacer Avesh Khan exhibited a terrific bowling show in the fourth T20I against South Africa to pick up four wickets to earn India a 82-run victory. With this win, India levelled the five-match series 2-2.
While talking about Avesh’s match-winning bowling display, former pacer Ashish Nehra gave credit to skipper Rishabh Pant’s tactics and key decisions.
“Avesh Khan didn’t bowl a lot of slower balls today. It was good to see Rishabh Pant give Avesh Khan two overs on the trot over this time. We have seen before that Rishabh hasn’t given Avesh a second over, even if his first over was a good one. He finished with impressive bowling figures and these things are important for a youngster,” Nehra was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel feels that Avesh was hitting right lengths and proved that he has got the ability.
“Avesh Khan hit the right lengths. He has been getting a lot of chances in international cricket and one only gets that when you have that talent. He didn’t perform too badly in the first three games as well. But with the way he bowled today, he proved that the has got the ability. He has consistently done well in the IPL. There was some assistance from the wicket and he made the most of it here and backed his strengths,” said Parthiv.
Coming back to the series, South Africa had managed to win the first two matches to take a vital 2-0 lead. In a must-win third match, Rishabh Pant-led India claimed 48-run victory to stay alive in the series.
In the fourth match, Dinesh Karthik (55 runs off 27 balls) and Hardik Pandya (46 runs off 31 deliveries) put up a crucial partnership of 65 runs as the hosts managed to reach a commanding total of 169 runs losing six wickets in 20 overs.
The Proteas, during the run chase, looked shaky as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Along with Avesh, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also did a commendable job as he picked up two wickets to bundle out South Africa for a paltry total of 87.
The fifth and final match of the series will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday.
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