In the second Twenty20 International, the Indian middle-order batsman made another memorable performance against South Africa, smashing an unbeaten 68 off 39 balls. After making his India debut back in August, Rinku has scored 46, 31*, 22*, 37*, and 38*. This was his first T20I fifty. The world has already dubbed Rinku the next great finisher for India because of his strength and six-hitting ability, but on Tuesday night, the left-handed batter proved to everyone that he is more than just an explosive alternative in death overs.
Stepping out to bat following Tilak Varma's wicket fall in the sixth over, Rinku got going right away in the opening ball, hitting a clean drive for four. In the eleventh over, he started to show off his strength by hitting back-to-back boundaries off Marco Jansen. Rinku reached his fifty off thirty balls with three fours off Andile Phehlukwayo's 13th over and another three off Lizaad Williams.
Rinku changed gears once again to play the next four overs without a boundary, but he lost it when there were only two left. In addition to taking India to 180 with back-to-back sixes from Aiden Markram, Rinku also broke the glass panel of the media box at St. George's Park in Gqeberha.
"Take a look at that six, but it has proved to be costly. It broke a glass in the media box. We have a picture of it. That is what it has resulted in," the legendary Dale Steyn of South Africa said. "Yes, and someone on the eastern bay of Gqeberha won't be very thrilled with Rinku Singh shattering one of their windows," Steyn said.
Though Rinku's efforts were in fruitless as South Africa quickly overcame their revised target of 152 in 15 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the series, Rinku continued to be India's most important learning point. Steyn was so taken aback by Rinku's temperament-filled blow that he acknowledged seeing similarities between the young Indian batsman's "mature" style and that of a legendary South African and his old comrade.
"His disposition appealed to me. And I enjoyed it when he got a boundary early in his bat and said, "Thank you very much, I'll take a single." Later on, he would score nine or ten runs off the first three balls of an over, which is sufficient at St. George's Park. He made it a 15–17 over, which I thought was really good. That's something that only seasoned players exhibit. It was once done by someone like Hashim Amla. Thus, that demonstrated that he has reached a certain level of maturity. He demonstrated his power game by hitting over the top for six anytime the ball was overpitched. He was efficient both off-side and leg-side. Basically, an all-around player," added the top Test wicket-taker for South Africa.
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