SOUTH AFRICA stormed back into the T20 international (T20I) series against reigning champions India on Sunday, November 10, when they won the low-scoring second game at St George’s Park Cricket Ground, Gqeberha, by three wickets. India won the first match in Durban by 61 runs.
The hosts slumped to 86 for 7 in pursuit of a target of 125 but Tristan Stubbs guided his side home with a well-crafted 47 not out in 41 deliveries. He was assisted by fast bowler Gerald Coetzee who scored an unbeaten 19 off only nine balls as the Proteas romped home with an over to spare.
Read: Pakistan decimate Australia in 3rd ODI; win series Down Under
For India, spinner Varun Chakravarthy produced his best show in international cricket, picking five wickets for only 17 runs in four overs.
India’s batting failure
Earlier, India failed to repeat their batting performance of the past few games and could manage only 124 runs for the loss of six wickets. They were reduced to 45 for 4 in eight overs with opener Sanju Samson, who scored back-to-back centuries in his previous two outings, got out for a duck while captain Suryakumar Yadav made only four.
Match Result
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) November 10, 2024
Superb Cricket from our Proteas!
South Africa win by 3 wickets
The series is now level at 1-1.
Next stop, Centurion#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/du7zjYW2KZ
Abhishek Sharma, the other opener, also fell cheaply for four while Rinku Singh made nine. It was Hardik Pandya’s late-stage onslaught that helped India to reach 120s. He remained unbeaten on 39 in 45 balls while Axar Patel made 27 and Tilak Varma 20.
South Africa produced a disciplined bowling performance with Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, and Nqabayomzi Peter each taking a wicket.
Jansen and Coetzee gave early breakthroughs to peg back India’s top order, while Simelane’s effective bowling in the middle overs restricted the visitors’ run-scoring opportunities.
South Africa also saw a batting collapse at the top and middle order with captain Aiden Markram going back to the pavilion on three and big guns such as Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller getting dismissed for two and nought, respectively. It was Stubbs and Coetzee who added unbeaten 38 runs to deny India an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
Stubbs was adjudged the player of the match.
The third match will be played at Centurion Park, Centurion, on Wednesday, November 13.
South Asians Globally
