2nd T20I
Chakaravarthy’s five-wicket haul goes in vain as Stubbs has guided the South Africa team to a victory
India scored 124/6 in 20 overs, where as South Africa scored 128/7 in 19 overs.
So, finally South Africa beat India by 3 wickets.
Tristan Stubbs’ composed 41-ball 47*, a cameo from Gerald Coetzee (19 off 9), and a smart bowling performance saw South Africa level the series after they were reduced to 86 for 7 chasing 124, eventually winning by three wickets.
Varun Chakaravarthy’s career-best figures of 5 for 17 went in vain for the visitors, who couldn’t replicate their dominant batting display from two nights ago.
In stark contrast to the first T20I, India’s innings never gained momentum.
The visitors lost three wickets inside the first four overs, which significantly hampered their batting.
Sanju Samson, fresh off consecutive centuries, was dismissed for a duck in the first over, bowled out by Marco Jansen in a wicket-maiden.
South Africa’s pacers dominated the PowerPlay, unlike in the previous match, with Gerald Coetzee removing Abhishek Sharma, who top-edged a pull to short fine-leg after a caught-behind decision was overturned.
The situation worsened for India when Surya Kumar Yadav was trapped LBW by an Andile Simelane yorker, leaving India at a perilous 15 for 3.
Axar Patel, however, briefly revived the innings with two vital boundaries off Simelane.
Tilak Varma also contributed with a six, but his run-a-ball 20 came to an end when David Miller took a stunning one-handed catch at cover.
Axar added two more boundaries off Nqaba Peter before being run out at the bowler’s end off a straight drive from Hardik Pandya.
Pandya, who struggled to get going, scored his first boundary off his 27th ball in the 17th over, but the South Africans kept him contained.
Meanwhile, Peter claimed his second wicket by dismissing Rinku Singh, who skied a slog-sweep to Coetzee.
Pandya then lifted the tempo, hitting Jansen for two fours and a six while batting with Arshdeep Singh.
The final over yielded only six runs for India, but it did see Pandya dropped twice—once by Aiden Markram and then by Coetzee.
In response, South Africa raced to four boundaries in the first three overs, but Ryan Rickelton fell to a slower ball from Arshdeep, flicking it to deep backward square-leg.
Markram was rattled by a Pandya bouncer that struck him flush on the helmet and was bowled by Chakaravarthy in the next over.
The offspinner then dismissed Reeza Hendricks in his second over.
The decision to promote Marco Jansen also backfired, as he was bowled by Chakaravarthy, who then dismissed Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller off consecutive deliveries, leaving South Africa at 66 for 6.
Stubbs, however, remained calm and assessed the situation.
Simelane, growing in confidence, then went for an ugly hoick and was bowled out.
With 37 needed off the last four overs, India turned to pace, but South Africa shifted gears immediately.
Coetzee launched Arshdeep for a towering 103-meter six and followed it up with two more boundaries off Avesh Khan in a 12-run over.
Stubbs sealed the victory in the penultimate over, blasting four boundaries off Arshdeep Singh.
Leave a Reply