Video | Aiden Markram plucks catch out of thin air to send Hardik Pandya packing

Video | Aiden Markram plucks catch out of thin air to send Hardik Pandya packing

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A brilliant partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli seemed to be undone by a fragile Indian middle-order as they collapsed, once again. While the hopes were pinned on Hardik Pandya, Aiden Markram brilliantly stretched every muscle in his body and pulled off a screamer at extra cover.

This has become a pattern in the series so far - Rohit Sharma's failure and then Dhawan-Kohli partnership and a middle-order collapse. It was no different at the Wanderers today and after the Rohit Sharma's third consecutive failure, the Delhi duo of Dhawan and Kohli led India’s sojourn and even though Kohli was dismissed after miscuing a Chris Morris delivery for 75, India were comfortably placed at 178/2 in 31 overs. 

However, the plot thickened after that and India lost Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawan, and Shreyas Iyer within some overs when there were a lot still to be done. The Indian team management, however, had their hopes pinned on the duo of Pandya and MS Dhoni to bail them out and guide them to a good total. 

But, it seemed like the South African bowlers, especially Kagiso Rabada, were in no mood to let the momentum slip away as the pacer kept on bowling good length balls to frustrate the duo. But, nothing was as dramatic as the last ball of the 47th over was. Rabada bowled a full ball which angled in from Pandya and he made a decent contact with the ball. By staying deep to the crease, the all-rounder carved it over extra cover and it seemed it would easily beat the man in the circle. 

However, Markram, whose bat has remained silent throughout the series, timed his jump to perfection and plucked the ball out of the air with his right hand. He was almost three feet away from the ground and everyone, including Pandya, was a mere spectator of the dismissal. After the dismissal, India failed to score much and were restricted to a par total of 292 runs in 50 overs, giving a tough target for the bowlers to defend.   

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