Suresh Raina stars in the field as he takes three catches in Jo'burg
One of the southpaw's three catches included the dismissal of skipper JP Duminy.
Suresh Raina after a long gap returned in the blues for India for the T20 series against South Africa which Indian side won by 23 runs. Raina failed to leave a big impact with the bat as he departed early during his 7-ball stay on the crease where he managed 15 runs which included six and 2 fours.
Raina though made sure that he played a role in India’s victory in the game through his fielding. He grabbed a backward running catch of South Africa skipper JP Duminy who failed to read the knuckleball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar had hit the ball high in the air over midwicket. Raina ran backward and held on the catch over his shoulder to send Duminy packing.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Duminy opted to field first. South Africa was without their star player AB de Villiers in the match. Rohit Sharma played a handy knock of 21 off just 9 deliveries while Raina who came at number 3 ahead of skipper Kohli managed 15 off 7 balls to keep India’s score going.
Dhawan looked in blistering touch as he completed his 4th T20 half-century. He scored 72 off just 39 balls before getting out. South Africa contained the Indian batters in the later part of the innings as Manish Pandey along with Dhoni struggled to find the ropes. But a quick start early on meant that India went past 200.
Chasing the target, South Africa looked in the game on a number of occasions when opener Reza Hendricks and Jon-Jon Smits started well but Indian bowlers kept chipping in with wickets.
Raina, first player to grab 3 catches thrice in T20 internationals
Raina pouched Duminy’s catch brilliantly but the fielder continued his splendid day on the field when he picked up two more catches off Bhuvneswar Kumar. Heinrich Klaasen and Chris Morris fell back to back on the bowling of Kumar when they were pouched safely by 31-year-old Suresh Raina.
Kumar’s 4-wicket over meant that South Africa was left behind in the run chase as India took the lead in the three-match series.
Watch Raina’s grab here:
Download Our App