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Opener Shikhar Dhawan said twin rain breaks coupled with reprieves to David Miller cost India dearly as South Africa brought a halt to the visitor's rampaging ODI run with a five-wicket win in the fourth ODI.
The stunning turnaround in the rain and lightning-struck ODI in Johannesburg, meant South Africa maintained their unbeaten record in pink and keep alive the six-match series by reducing the margin to 3-1.
The main reason was, of course, the dropped catch and then a wicket off a no-ball. From there the momentum changed. Otherwise we were in very good position. Of course rain had an impact too. Our spinners couldn’t turn the ball or grip the ball the way they did in the last three matches. It makes a difference when the ball gets wet.Shikhar Dhawan, Batsman, India
But the main talking point of the day was wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal's below-par performances as the duo endured their first bad outing on this tour.
Chahal (1-68) and Yadav (2-51) did add to their tally of wickets, but went for a lot of runs as well. They failed to contain the Proteas for once, going for 119 runs in 11.3 overs.
But Dhawan came in support of the young spinners, saying it was a rare off-day for them in office.
See they are young guys. They have been doing very well, more than well for us. These two spinners have won three games for us. My support is always with them. Any one can have a bad day.Shikhar Dhawan, Batsman, India
Dhawan said it is important to go through failures in life to learn lessons and Chahal and Yadav should take it in their stride and look ahead.
Earlier in the day, Dhawan had celebrated his 100th ODI with a 13th century. He scored 109 runs and put on 158 runs with skipper Kohli, who scored 75. The duo also put on an eighth century stand for the second wicket in ODI cricket.
It was a picture-perfect innings. I enjoyed it. It cannot get any better. In my 100th match, I scored a century. I’m very happy about that. Obviously they had their plans, but I adjusted to those things and started off well.Shikhar Dhawan, Batsman, India
(With inputs from PTI)
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