Ruturaj Gaikwad was in good touch in the third T20I between India and South Africa. The opening batter scored first international fifty of his T20 career.
He accumulated 57 off 35 balls with help of 7 fours and 2 sixes. Gaikwad added 97 runs with Ishan Kishan for the opening partnership. The southpaw smashed 54, laced with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
Ruturaj went after the bowlers from his first ball and even hit 4 fours in Anrich Nortje’s one over.
In the fifth over of the Indian innings, the young batter decided to accelerate the run-rate and thumped one of the fastest bowlers for boundaries. Anrich conceded 5 fours but one was of leg bye.
The 25-year-old became the fourth Indian batter to hit 4 fours in an over of a T20I innings. He equalled Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina’s record. Virat is the only India cricketer to achieve this milestone on two separate occasions.
Earlier, South Africa won a third successive toss against India and opted to field again in the third Twenty20 on Tuesday.
The Proteas won the first match in New Delhi by seven wickets and the second game in Cuttack by four wickets for a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Despite consecutive losses, India has fielded an unchanged side. The host resisted bringing in allrounder Deepak Hooda and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. Even Indian Premier League sensation Umran Malik, who had impressed with his tearaway pace, was not included.
South Africa also has an unchanged side from the previous game. Quinton de Kock is still unavailable after a hand injury sustained in the first T20.
The pitch at Visakhapatnam is expected to be batsmen-friendly, and a high-scoring contest should be in the offing for the capacity crowd.
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Lineups:
India: Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (captain), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan.
South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.