Hunt of the beast is not over - Killer Miller did it for his team this time

The 2022 Tata IPL series has been a success. How is time to move on to the Indian team. There will be a lot of international T20 matches for the Indian team in a row. The Indian team has started playing today in the five-match series against South Africa. The BCCI has announced that senior players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit  Bumrah will take a rest ahead of the England tour. KL Rahul will lead the Indian team.  Unexpectedly KL Rahul withdrew from the series yesterday with a injury. Similarly, spin bowler Kuldeep Yadav has been ruled out for the entire series.

The ICC World Cup T20 Series is set to take place in Australia later this year. So all the T20 matches that the Indian team will play now will be seen as the most important. Every player will play with this in mind, as the upcoming series will help the management to select the squad especially for the World Cup series later.

Now coming to the South Africa series, It was announced today that the Rishabh pant led Indian team will play all matches in the T20 series against South Africa.

Toss : South Africa opt to Bowl

Team India : 211/4 (20 Overs)

I have to say that the batting of the Indian team was a bit slow at the beginning. The opening batsmen of the Indian team Ishan Kishan and Ruthraj started playing a bit slow at the beginning. Though the Indian team did not lose any wickets at the end of 5 overs, it was only thirty-six runs. The turning point of the match then came in the sixth over when Nortje bowled.  In that one over, the Indian team added a maximum of 15 runs. Ruthraj hit the first ball for a six and then Ishan hit 2 fours. At the end of the power play, the Indian scoreboard was 51-0.

Ruturaj hit the first ball of the seventh over again for a six off Parnell.  But he lost his wicket on the next ball. Ishan, who later joined hands with Shreyas Iyer, expressed his action.  Iyer also played aggressively to compensate slightly for his game.The Indian team came up with more than 10 runs in each over from 7 to 10 overs. Due to that, the Indian team added 102 runs at the end of 10 overs.

Kishan reached his fifty off 37 balls in the 11th over. He hit a six and reached his fifty in a style. He was constantly playing aggressively. Particularly in the 13th over Bowled by  Keshav Maharaj, he hit two sixes and two fours. He added 20 runs for India in that single over. But unexpectedly he lost his wicket in the last ball of that over.

At the end of 13 overs, the Indian team was 137 for 2. Then Captain Rishabh Pant entered the game. In the next three overs, however, the game was slightly turtle-paced. At the end of 16 overs, the Indian team had accumulated only 156 runs.  Shreyas Iyer lost his wicket in the first ball of the 17th over. Hardik Pandya joins hands with Captain Rishabh Pant. Captain Pant, however, blasted the over without noticing the wicket in the first ball, 18 runs came in that over as two sixes and a four.

Hardik Pandya took the 18th and 19th overs in his hands. He expressed his action and hit alternately as a six-four. Though Rishabh Pant lost his wicket in the 20th over, Hardik Pandya hit a six in that over to the delight of the fans.  At the end of 20 overs, the Indian team accumulated 211 for the loss of 4 wickets.

The innings from Ishan Kishan 76(48) were the base in today's game. Then the brilliant finish by the captain Rishabh pant 29(16) and Hardik Pandya 31*(12) made it easy for India to score 200+ score. Now the target for the South African team was 212.

Team South Africa chasing ON :

Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the first over brilliantly. South Africa scored only 7 runs in that over. But the second over turned out for South Africa.  South African openers De Kock and Bavuma made good use of the second over by Avesh Khan and added 15 runs for the team in that over. It did not last long and in the next over, Bhuvnesh Kumar excellently picked the wicket of captain Bavuma.

 The next 2 overs were the biggest shock that awaited for the Indian fans.Dwaine Pretorious came in and he hit the six in the fourth over bowled by chahal.Then,De Kock  hit 2 fours and added 11 runs in the over. Then in the fifth over from Hardik Pandya was absolutely a game changer for SA. Dwaine Pretorious hit 3 sixes in the over. At the end of five overs, the South African team scored 60 runs for 1 wicket.

In the 6th over bowled by Harshal Patel, Dwaine Pretorious lost his wicket.  After that, the Indian team took the match in their hands.  It is noteworthy that only one run in that over belonged to the South African team.  It was followed by four overs in which Chahal and Axar took turns.The South African team faced a bit of difficulty with their spin bowling. De Kock lost his wicket to Axar in the 9th over. At the end of 9 overs, the South African team scoreboard was  82/3.

Rassie Van der Dussen and Killer Millers join in the mission 212. They slowly accelerated their innings for the next two overs. The 12th over from Harshal Patel, in this over killer Miller smashed one boundary and one six. From that moment India literally loses its intent. Miller didn't stop his rage. In the 14th over from axar patel, he smashed 2 sixes and one boundary. The end of 15 overs the South Africa scoreboard was 148-3. Here the full credits goes to Miller. He smashed a half century by just 22 deliveries.

Van der Dussen  joined the party in the 17th over. He hitted 3 sixes and a four in the overthrow by Harshal Patel and also he reached his half century by a huge six, and at the end of that over, the Indian team was almost on the verge of defeat.Then Bhuvneshwar Kumar tried and bowled but the duo alternately smashed every ball. At the 19.1 Over, South Africa reached the target. And they won the match by 7 wickets.

It was a brilliant fourth wicket partnership from Rassie Van der Dussen and David Miller that helped South Africa to taste victory.131 runs came  over from this duo from just 63 balls. Unbeaten innings from Rassie Van der Dusse75*(46)  and David Miller 64(31) is the only reason for the defeat of India.

And it was the highest successful run chase from South Africa in the T20 international. And also the 131 run partnership for the 4th wicket from Rassie Van der Dussen and Killer Miller is now the second highest in the list.

Before this match, India led by Rohit Sharma had the winning streak of 12-0 and it came to an end today. Afghanistan has the winning streak of 12 match wins. And now India  equals Afghanistan's record. The chance to break the record was missed today.Despite losing the first match, we can hope that the Indian team will come back and win the second match.