WATCH: Dinesh Karthik marks his SA20 debut with sharp catch to dismiss Zak Crawley

Former Indian star Dinesh Karthik made his debut in SA20 2024/25 for Paarl Royals on Saturday. The 39-year-old made his presence felt behind the stumps as the Royals took on Sunrisers Eastern Cape in their season-opening game. Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bat first as the defending champions came into the game after a huge loss. 

Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck twice in a single over to bring the home team into the contest. Zak Crawley was batting on 27 having just clobbered Kwena Maphaka for two huge sixes in the previous over. Mujeeb bowled a googly that Crawley tried to flick to the leg side. The English batter got an inside edge as the ball hit his pads and Karthik took a neat catch after juggling the ball once. 

Nice Catch by Dinesh Karthik pic.twitter.com/qigY8GSxsg

— Abhi (@79off201) January 11, 2025

Two balls later, the Afghan spinner struck once more when he dismissed Jordan Hermann for 10 runs. Joe Root who like Karthik is making his SA20 debut took an easy catch to leave the visitors at 39/2 after five overs. That over changed the course of the game as Sunrisers were seen to be making a great start to the game with the bat. 

Dinesh Karthik makes long-awaited SA20 debut 

Former Indian star and IPL legend Dinesh Karthik has marked his presence in the SA20 league with Paarl Royals. The 39-year-old had been in excellent form with the bat during the IPL 2024 season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru before his eventual retirement. 

Opting to bat first, Sunrisers began well as Jordan Hermann struck a boundary in the first ball of the game. Only 20 runs were scored in the first three overs of the game as the home team bowlers kept a tight leash on scoring. The fourth over saw 16 runs being scored as Zak Crawley smashed Maphaka for two successive sixes. 

Speaking at the toss, David Miller said “Couple of new guys. Root, Karthik are in the squad. We would have batted as well. We have nice additions this season”.  Paarl Royals also have the likes of Lungi Ngidi and Dayyaan Galliem who are in and around the fringes of national team selection. 

Sunrisers skipper Aiden Markram said “We are going to bat first. Pretty standard wicket here in a day game. You want to take learnings. We have addressed small things that we need to improve on. One change. Baartman comes in. Brings in some international experience."