After achieving remarkable success in the Test serious and suffered a heavy defeat in the first T20 match South Africa strongly came back and defeated India by 51 runs in the second match of the five-game T20 series. The visitors scored 213 for four in 20 overs. India reached 162 all out in 19.1 overs.
Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock led South Africa with 90 runs from 46 balls. He hit seven sixes and five fours. Ottniel Baartman took four wickets for 24 runs and controlled the middle overs with accuracy.
India won the toss and chose to bowl. South Africa made a steady start. The first wicket fell at 38. The second fell at 121. Reeza Hendricks scored 8 runs. De Kock dominated the innings and stayed in control across the first 15 overs. Captain Aiden Markram added 29 runs from 26 balls. Dewald Brevis scored 14 from 10 balls. Donovan Ferreira scored 30 not out from 16 balls. David Miller supported him with 20 not out from 12 balls.
India struggled with the ball. Arshdeep Singh conceded 54 runs in four overs, including seven wides in one over. He did not take a wicket. Team India’s star bowler Jasprit Bumrah conceded 45 runs in four overs and also finished without a wicket. Varun Chakravarthy was the most effective bowler. He took two wickets for 29 runs in four overs. Axar Patel took one wicket for 27 runs in three overs.
While chasing a good score India collapsed early. Shubman Gill was out on the first ball of the innings. Abhishek Sharma hit two sixes but fell for 17 runs from eight balls and caught behind the wicket. Captain Suryakumar Yadav scored 5 runs. India reached 32 for three in the powerplay.
Axar Patel scored 21 from 21 balls. Tilak Varma fought hard and kept the scoreboard moving. He scored 62 from 34 balls with five sixes and two fours. His dismissal ended India’s hopes. Hardik Pandya scored 20 from 23 balls. Jitesh Sharma added 27 from 17 balls. The lower order did not offer resistance.
South Africa delivered a disciplined bowling performance. Baartman took four wickets. Lungi Ngidi took two wickets for 26 runs in 3.1 overs. Marco Jansen took two for 25 in four overs. Lutho Sipamla took two for 46 in four overs.
The series is now level at 1-1. India needs a stronger start with both bat and ball in the third match.
Posted on 12 December 1:07 AM IST
Mohammed Naseer Giyas is a multi-media and bilingual journalist with over 20 years of experience across print, digital, and television media. Founder of Raftaar-e-Deccan, he is an alumnus of IVLP, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and ICFJ, and has worked with leading English and Urdu news organisations.
