Dinesh Karthik Surpasses MS Dhoni For This Massive T20I record

Dinesh Karthik on Sunday surpassed former India captain MS Dhoni to become the oldest Indian cricketer to score a T20I half-century. The 37-year-old Indian batter on Friday scored his first half-century in the shortest format of the game for India. Karthik put on a show in Rajkot against South Africa in the 4th T20I of the five-match series as Men in Blue levelled the series 2-2. He smashed 55 off merely 27 deliveries.

At 81/4 after 12.5 overs, India had their backs against the wall and Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya had a massive task on their hands.

Their stand of 65 off only 33 deliveries injected some much-needed momentum in what was a meek effort till that point. Pandya scored 46 off only 31 before being dismissed by Ngidi, with Shamsi taking a brilliant catch. Dinesh Karthik would continue in the same vein despite losing his partner, bringing up his maiden T20I fifty.

He would immediately walk back afterwards, attempting a big slog-sweep against Dwaine Pretorius, but it was a job well done in a knock of 55. India managed to score 73 runs in their last five overs, ending up with a highly competitive score of 169/6, largely due to the efforts of the pair. In reply, India bundled the Proteas to merely 87.

With a half-century at 37 years, 16 days - Dinesh Karthik became the oldest Indian to cross the 50-run mark in T20Is (against South Africa, 2022).

MS Dhoni was 36 years, 229 days old when he smashed 50-run against South Africa in 2018. The third oldest is Shikhar Dhawan who achieved the feat at 35 years, 1 day against Australia in 2020.

Promoted

After India's 82-run victory, the series has now been perfectly set up for a scintillating finale in Bengaluru. South Africa were brilliant in the first two matches but the