IND vs SA: Virat Kohli selflessly denies single on 49, asks Dinesh Karthik to finish

India managed to score a record 237/3 in 20 overs in the second T20I match against South Africa while batting first. Rohit Sharma lost the crucial toss but Indian batters went to score their best T20I score against the Proteas to dominate the first innings. Openers Rohit and KL Rahul gave India a flying start with a big 96-run partnership for the first wicket in just 9.5 overs.

The in-form spinner Keshav Maharaj dismissed both the openers to get South Africa back into the game in the middle overs. But then Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli went on to smash another quick partnership of 102 runs. Suryakumar smashed 61 runs off just 22 balls before getting run out in the 19th over. But Kohli smashed two back-to-back fours to reach 49-mark at the end of the 19th over.

Kohli needed only one run to finish in the last over but he was at the non-striker end. Dinesh Karthik, playing in a finisher role, missed Kagiso Rabada's first delivery and smashed four on the second. He missed next ball again but smashed a big six over a deep square leg. Fans eagerly wanted Kohli back on strike to finish of the game and complete his fifty.

Karthik also approached Kohli to ask about playing a next delivery for a single, but true to his class, the former captain instructed him to finish the game. Karthik smashed another big six over a deep extra cover but missed a last ball for a bye run.

Kohli missed the fifty by just one run but India managed to score 18 runs in the last over to put a mammoth 237/3 on the target. With this 49-run knock, the former captain became the first Indian player to reach the 11000 runs in T20 cricket. 

Totally selfless cricketer #ViratKohli𓃵 😇#INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/LksBHyYaUI

— TV GO (@TV_GO_) October 2, 2022