Dinesh Karthik bails Paarl Royals out of trouble against Joburg Super Kings with maiden SA20 fifty [Watch]

Paarl Royals' veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik scored his maiden SA20 fifty to rescue his side in the clash against Joburg Super Kings at the Wanderers on Thursday, January 30. He scored 53 runs off 39 deliveries after the table-toppers were put into bat first.

Dinesh Karthik walked into bat when the visiting side were reeling at 40-4 in the sixth over. Without their best batters - Joe Root and skipper David Miller - the onus was on the experienced Indian wicket-keeper to repair the innings. He struggled to find reliable partners as Joburg Super Kings struck at regular intervals.

After settling down at the crease, the veteran took the initiative to try to generate some momentum. He smashed three consecutive sixes off Wihan Lubbe in the 13th over and received a reprieve in the next over after Evan Jones dropped a catch off Imran Tahir's bowling.

Karthik scored consecutive boundaries in the 17th over bowled by Hardus Viljoen to reach the 50-run mark. Have a look at his innings right here:

Dinesh Karthik's SA20 stint had got off to a bleak start after he scored only 23 runs in his first seven outings, which included a couple of unfortunate run-outs. He scored a quick-fire 21 in Paarl Royals' recent successful run chase against the Durban's Super Giants at home.

Dinesh Karthik was dismissed by Imran Tahir in the 18th over

The death-over specialist threatened to continue his hitting after completing his fifty, but was dismissed soon after. Karthik tried to take on leg-spinner Imran Tahir, but could only find opposition skipper Faf du Plessis at long-off. His knock included four fours and three sixes and helped Paarl put up a respectable total on board.

The score read 138-7 after 17.3 overs when Karthik was dismissed. As a result, Paarl lacked a final flourish to their innings. The lower order could only manage 12 more runs off the remaining deliveries to finish with 150-9 at the end of 20 overs.