I was looking forward to a lot more, says Sai Sudharsan after missing ton against West Indies
New Delhi (PTI): India No. 3 Sai Sudharsan on Friday admitted he was eyeing a big score against the West Indies after falling short of what would have been his maiden century in Test cricket during the first day's play in the second match here.
Sudharsan, who was under some pressure after missing out in the first Test in Ahmedabad where India routed the West Indies by an innings and 140 runs, struck a fine 87 for his highest knock in the format.
Having made his Test debut during England tour, Sudharsan had scored 61 in the first innings of the Manchester Test for his maiden fifty and remains in hunt of a maiden triple figure score.
"I am definitely grateful for whatever I've done today but there's always a monkey in our mind that wants more, wants that hundred and so I was looking forward to a lot more," Sudharsan, who made 87 off 165 balls with 12 fours, told the broadcaster after the match.
In the company of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal who struck an unbeaten 173, Sudharsan put the West Indies attack to the sword with a robust 193-run stand for the second wicket.
He said he was looking to bat freely in this innings.
"It was a good contribution and very good partnership with (Yashasvi) Jaiswal. I was not thinking about getting runs, I was a bit more free and I expressed a bit better in this innings," Sudharsan said.
"I was able to take a bit more time and let things happen instead of trying to make things happen."
"It's fascinating and so thrilling to watch him from the other end. He plays a lot of exciting shots. He converts a lot of good balls into boundaries, so it's really good to watch. He's giving me more awareness of what kind of shots to be played," he said.
Sudharsan said he is trying to be judicious with his shot selection.
"There's no competing there, but I am learning a lot more and being more aware of what shots to play if I want to convert good balls into runs," he said.
The 23-year-old Sudharsan's innings was cut short when a delivery from Jomel Warrican turned in sharply from outside off and hit his back leg in front of the wickets.
The dismissal was somewhat similar to how he fell in the Ahmedabad Test, being hit on the back foot by a delivery from Roston Chase that skidded off the surface and beat his defence.
Sudharsan said the pitch here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium was keeping low and there was some turn from the surface already.
"I feel it's staying a bit low and it will start to turn more from tomorrow. Even when you hit the ball, it's not flying off your bat. Hopefully off the rough it will start turning," he said.
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Prasidh, Kuldeep limit South Africa to 270 after De Kock's hundred
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India fought back gallantly through Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav after Quinton de Kock struck his 23rd hundred, keeping South Africa to a manageable 270 in the third and series-deciding final ODI, here Saturday.
India won the toss after judging the spin of the coin incorrectly 20 times in a row. They had little hesitation in inserting the Proteas into bat, a clear indication of dew factor dominating the thought.
After Arshdeep Singh sent back Ryan Rickelton early, De Kock (106, 89b, 8x4, 6x4) struck his seventh century against India and put on 113 runs off 124 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (48, 67b) as the visitors moved to a healthy position.
De Kock was severe on Prasidh (4/66), who erred on length continuously in his first spell (2-0-27-0). The left-hander biffed the pacer for 6, 6, 4 in his second over to milk 18 runs.
The 32-year-old quickly pounced on anything that was short, and pacers Prasidh and Harshit offered him plenty of feed on his pet areas.
Bavuma was more sedate, and made runs through those typical dabs and jabs, occasionally unfurling a drive of elan.
De Kock moved to fifty in 42 balls, and never let the tempo down reaching his hundred in 79 balls.
India found temporary relief when Ravindra Jadeja induced a false slash from Bavuma to get caught by Virat Kohli at point.
The tourists got another move on through a 54-run partnership between De Kock and Matthew Breetzkle for the third wicket, and at 168 for two in 28 overs they were in a good position to press on.
But Breetzke's punishment of part-time spinner Tilak Varma forced a rethink in the Indian camp, as skipper KL Rahul brought back Prasidh for a second spell.
What a masterstroke it turned out to be! The Karnataka man broke the back of South Africa’s top and middle order in an exceptional second spell (4-0-11-3).
Breetzke was the first man to go, trapped plumb in front with a straight one and four balls later Aiden Markram uppishly chipped a fuller delivery to Kohli at short covers.
Prasidh soon castled De Kock, whose ugly cross-batted swipe failed to connect a full length delivery from the pacer.
All of a sudden, SA found themselves at a shaky 199 for five, losing three wickets in the space of three overs.
Once Prasidh was done away with the top and middle-order, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (4/41) took over and mopped up the tail as SA fell short of even a par total on this track.
