Watch: Ruturaj Gaikwad collected 20 runs off an Anrich Nortje over on his way to his maiden international fifty in the third T20I between India and South Africa in Visakhapatnam.
The over also involved a vicious bumper from the speedster, one that forced Gaikwad to arch his back out of the way. It still managed to nick his helmet grille on its way to the boundary ropes, one of five that Nortje conceded in that over.
It was the fifth over of India’s innings, and set the tone for a rousing opening partnership worth 97 runs. Off the first ball, Gaikwad slashed hard on the off side, pulling the next one past mid-on to make it two fours out of two. Nortje responded with a sharp bouncer that sent Gaikwad packing: cramped for space, he only managed to just about evade it, but it still caught the grille of his helmet and raced to the third-man fence. As is the norm, the physio was on the field for the mandatory head-hit check. It was initially given as runs off the bat by the umpire, before being corrected to leg-byes.
Gaikwad didn’t stop thereafter: a full delivery came his way, and he responded promptly with a flick of the wrists, sending it to the deep mid-wicket fence. The next ball was guided past the short third-man fence, making it five fours in five. He tried to for a sixth four with an intended slash on the off side, backing away and all, but couldn’t connect.
Despite a middle-order wobble that saw them lose five wickets for 61 runs, India managed a 48-run win.
