4th ODI: Miller-Klaasen propel South Africa to a sensational win in a rain-hit game over India

Johannesburg, Feb 10: A superb display of unconventional batting from David Miller and youngster Heinrich Klaasen helped South Africa register their first win in the series as they defeated India by 5 wickets in a rain-hit fourth ODI here on Saturday (February 10).

Match Scorecard

Chasing a revised target of 202 from 28 overs, the hosts hammered Indian spinners for the first time in the series and overhauled the target with 15 balls to spare. With this win, the Proteas maintained their unbeaten run in pink ODI at the Wanderers and kept the series alive as they head to Port Elizabeth.

Klaasen played a fiery knock of 27-ball 43 and targetted both the wrist-spinners i.e. Kuldeep Yadav (2/51) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/68) and took the game away from India's grip. The spinners together leaked 119 runs, which proved to be very costly for the Indians.

Give it up for our man of the match @Heini22. What a performance, take a bow 👏👏👏👏 #SAvIND #PitchUpInPink pic.twitter.com/QsDmDniSVB

— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) February 10, 2018

Miller, on the other hand, made most of the two reprieves he got in the same over off Chahal and made the visitors pay the price for that. Miller was batting on 6 when he was first dropped in the deep by Shreyas Iyer and was two balls later he was bowled by Chahal, but the spinner had over-stepped.

The left-handed batsman didn't look back from then on and went on adding 33 more runs to his total. By the time he was dismissed for 39, Miller had already brought his team very close to winning this game.

Terrific counter attack by Miller & Klaasen when the chips were down has tamed India's dreaded spinners. SA had missed such spiritedness yet

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) February 10, 2018

Miller and Klaasen blasted the ball to all parts of the ground and took on the spinners, which have haunted the batsman in the previous three games. The latter was awarded the man of the match for his brilliant innings, that was studded with five improvised boundary shots and a six.

That was some assault on the spinners! Wonder what the impact will be for the last two games

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 10, 2018

Andile Phehlukwayo played explosive innings of 5-ball 23 and took the hosts home in style. In his short cameo, Phehlukwayo struck three sixes and a boundary.

Chahal was expensive from his five overs but it will be that No ball that is going to haunt him in the next two games. He wrist-spinner overstepped on two occasions in this match and that proves he was low on confidence after the batsmen started targetting him.

This turned out to be India's first defeat in the ODI series as they failed to take a series-winning 4-0 lead. They would now hope to win the fifth ODI on Tuesday (February 13) in Port Elizabeth.

Having set a target of 290 for the hosts to chase, the visitors got their wicket in Protea skipper Aiden Markram who was trapped in front by Jasprit Bumrah for 22. The scoreboard read 43 when the stand-in skipper was dismissed on the second delivery of the 8th over, but a fresh spell of lightning and rain forced the umpires to send the teams back in the pavilion.

#NewProfilePic \_(ツ)_/ pic.twitter.com/JHDE0EECja

— ICC (@ICC) February 10, 2018

When the game started was curtailed to 28 overs and the hosts needed 159 runs off 124 deliveries, which isn't a tough target to chase under the lights and when the outfield is wet.

The visitors still had their share of luck when Kuldeep Yadav dismissed JP Duminy (10) and Hashim Amla (33) in quick succession to bring his team back in the game. But fortune switched side as South Africa's most seasoned campaigner AB de Villiers had walked into the middle and started attacking the bowlers.

De Villiers, though was dismissed for 26 off 18 deliveries, had laid the foundation for his teammates to capitalise upon. And the luck, finally, evaded the Indians when Miller got two reprieves in one over. It was after that over when the hosts clawed their way back into the game.

Spinners had a rare off day....surprised that Bhuvi-Bumrah weren’t considered as two of the three bowlers to bowl 6 overs. #SAvIND

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 10, 2018

This loss also meant Shikhar Dhawan's fine century in his hundredth one-day international went in vain. Lightning break halted India's charge as the visitors seemed to have lost the momentum and managed to post just 289 for 7. The visitors fell some 20-30 runs short, batting first and that proved out to be a difference when the game was reduced to 28 overs under to Duckworth-Lewis Method system.

Dhawan - playing his 100th ODI - made it a special one as he notched up his 13th ODI century and gave the visitors a solid start in the game. The left-handed batsman became first Indian and ninth overall to slam a ton in his 100th ODI game.

The South Africans may value the win over the wrist spinners even more than the match win #SAvIND

— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) February 10, 2018

He along with skipper Virat Kohli stitched a solid 158-run partnership for the second wicket. But the hosts made a solid comeback after the match was stopped due to fears of lightning at Wanderers.

At one stage India were looked headed towards a total past 300 but the bowlers gathered themselves exceptionally well and bowled miserly in the later part of the match and even picked up wickets at regular interval to ensure the visitors do not touch the 300-run mark and take psychological advantage.

At one point when Dhawan and Kohli were batting, India looked odds-on to smash a large total but wickets in the middle part slowed them down.

MS Dhoni was able to add a little bit of momentum in the end but South Africa will be the happier of the two teams going into the break. Hopefully, the rain stays away as we could be in for a cracker of a chase.

Barring Dhawan, Kohli and Dhoni no other Indian batsmen rose up to the occasion as India faltered somewhere in the middle as far as the run rate was concerned. Ajinkya Rahane (8), Shreyas Iyer (18), Hardik Pandya (9) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5) were the wickets lost by the visitors in the middle overs.

Opener and vice-captain Rohit Sharma's poor form on South African soil continued as he was once again dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in the first power-play. Rohit was dismissed for 5 before Rabada caught him off his own delivery.

Earlier, India skipper won the toss and elected to bat first against Proteas in a game that is important to win for both the sides.