India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has put Saturday’s defeat to South Africa at the Wanderers down to rain delays and dropped chances.
The hosts kept the series alive with a fighting five-wicket win after India had posted 289-7 batting first. The rain delays had led to a revised target of 202 for the Proteas to get from 28 overs and some fine hitting by Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller saw them over the line.
The latter had been given two reprieves by the visitors during the course of his innings. He was dropped on six by Shreyas Iyer in the deep before being bowled off a no-ball by Yuzvendra Chahal.
“The main reason was, of course, the dropped catch and then a wicket off no-ball. From there the momentum changed. Otherwise we were in very good position,” Dhawan said after India’s defeat.
“Of course rain had an impact too. Our spinners couldn’t turn the ball or grip the ball the way they did in the last three matches. It makes a difference when the ball gets wet. That’s the reason,” he added.
Chahal had a night to forget as he went for 68 runs off his 33 deliveries.
The left-hander had earlier become the first Indian batsman to register a century in his 100th ODI appearance.
India’s wrist-spinners, especially Chahal, took some punishment from the Proteas batsman after having dominated them in the first three ODIs. Chahal was taken to the cleaners by Miller and Klaasen and finished with figures of 1-68 off just five and a half overs. Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, returned with two wickets off his six overs but was smashed for 51 runs.
However, Dhawan backed the duo to come back strongly in the remainder of the series.
“See they are young guys. They have been doing very well, more than well for us. These two spinners have won three games for us. My support is always with them. Anyone can have a bad day,” he stated.
“It’s not something that happens every time. Like our spinners don’t often bowl no balls. Even if they get hit, they will learn a lot of things,” he added.
On his part, Dhawan was delighted with his 13th ODI century and described it as a perfect innings.
“It was a picture perfect innings. I enjoyed it. It cannot get any better. In my 100th match, I scored a century. I’m very happy about that. Obviously they had their plans, but I adjusted to those things and started off well,” he remarked.
