VIDEO | Shikhar Dhawan messes up fielding and flicks the ball over the ropes
For all the talk about India’s unparalleled fitness and fielding, the visitors have been seen squandering numerous chances on the field of late. India saw one more such instance on Friday when Shikhar Dhawan ran a fair distance to get to the ball but then flicked the ball over the rope.
South Africa started their sixth ODI in a terrible way with their batting-order collapsing like a house of cards yet again, as has been the case in the ODI series so far. Hence, when the likes of Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Aiden Markram, and Chris Morris, all returned to the pavilion after adding less than 150 runs on the board within 40 overs, the Indian fielders had an expected lax body language.
The biggest sign of it came in the 42nd over, when Dhawan saw a routine boundary going over the ropes even after he had successfully managed to cover the ground and stop the ball. Hardik Pandya’s attempt at a low full toss delivery to Andile Phehlukwayo went horribly wrong as the bowler clipped it towards the deep mid-wicket with relative ease.
The opener did quite brilliantly to cover the boundary with a quick sprint and got to the ball before messing it horribly. However, the ball lobbed off Dhawan’s hand as he was doing a quick roll-off to get up and throw the ball. Slow replays showed that the fielder removed his eyes from the ball after saving it as he was attempting to transfer it to his other hand, but all he did was flick the ball and it just flew over the ropes.
Phehlukwayo went on to add 16 more runs to his tally as South Africa ended the game on 204 runs. And it is yet to see that if they will eventually amount to India’s loss in the final ODI in Centurion.
