That's it from us after a run fest! Just fours and sixes I can remember from this match. Now, it's time to say adieu to all the viewers. I am AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator, Anirudh Modi (first innings) and helping buddy, Ajay Ahire, who, alongside our scorer/analyst ManishBishnoi, brought you all the live actions of this belligerent hitting. We will come back with another live coverage. Until then, it is goodbye!
KL Rahul: "Yeah, it was quite a difficult track to start. As an opener, it is important to know how the pitch would behave. You need to give your best. All about the mindset. I have tried to be positive, and I will continue this approach. Happy with the way I batted as it was a bit tough to start.
Rohit and I had a chat in the middle after the first two overs and saw the pitch was a sticky one. Surprised with the total and man of the match award as well. We thought of 180-185, but the pitch surprised us.
Surya played exceedingly well, and he deserves this award. Having batted in the middle order, I can realize how difficult it is to come and hit straightaway. DK gets a few balls to bat, and he needs to go from ball one. Tonight both were phenomenal alongside Virat.
Ahh!! After that backfoot punch, I felt good. I kept my balance while playing the shots. The crowds have turned up to make it a fully packed one. After a while, we are witnessing it. Happy with the overall day."
Player of the Match: KL Rahul.
Rohit Sharma | India Captain: "Yeah, we always say this is the Indian team that will play aggressively. Tonight, the players executed well and were happy with the way the game went. For the past ten months, the players have come to the party to save the team from a difficult situation. New players come every time and do well. Yeah, happy with the way we batted.
I will not say that bowling is not a concern, but yeah, in death overs, you need to be ready to get hit. Death overs are tough to bowl. We tried to execute it better, but tonight too it didn't turn good. We will work on that. Hopefully, let's play him directly on October 23rd. Haha, it doesn't happen. He needs to play regularly. Yeah, he is a superstar. Thank you."
Game Changer of the Match: Suryakumar Yadav.
Strongest Performer of the Match: David Miller.
Temba Bavuma | South Africa Captain: "Yeah, look, this wasn't the best bowling performance from us. With the quality we have, we needed to execute it better. We have a good bowling setup and will try to do better next time. Yeah, we needed to start well, which didn't happen.
We are happy that we came close to the target. Miller played really well. He felt good in the nets. Batted well tonight. We will recheck the mistakes and will come up with a better performance. There was some swing early on, but yeah, needed to bat well."
Here comes the post-match presentation!
We will be back with the presentations. Stay tuned!
David Miller: "Yeah, de Kock was struggling early in the innings. But we batted as much as possible, but the score was way too much. Yeah, he came to me and said sorry and applauded the innings from me. The pitch was an absolute belter as 400-plus runs were scored.
We tried to bat as many overs and score as many as possible. But fell short of the target in the end. Yeah, it was hot and humid. But, yeah, happy with the way we batted. But a bit too many runs to chase."