(Cricket news) India defeated South Africa by 16 runs to seal the T20I. This is the first time India has won a T20I series against South Africa at home and it is also India's 11th consecutive bilateral T20I series win. India went into the game unchanged while South Africa brought in Lungi Ngidi for Tabraiz Shamsi. There was rain expected but it didn't interrupt the match but there were a couple of other delays. The first one was due to a snake entering the ground and the other one was when one of the light towers lost its power. While the first match was a bowlers victory, the 2nd belonged to the heroics of the batters. South Africa won the toss and put India into bat first.
The Indian openers pretty much reversed their roles as Rohit Sharma was cautious while KL Rahul played the role of aggressor. The openers added 96 before Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 43 off 37 balls after hitting 7 fours and a six. The Indian skipper continues to give India a good start by making the most of the powerplay. KL Rahul played an incredible knock of 57 off just 28 balls, he hit 5 boundaries and 4 maximums to give his side a perfect start. After Rahul was dismissed, India's ever reliable middle order duo Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli added 102. Virat Kohli was playing 2nd fiddle but still had a strike rate of 175 as he scored 49 off just 28 balls. SKY once again showed his quality as he got 61 off just 22 balls. Dinesh Karthik was promoted to finish the innings as he scored 17 off just 7 balls to take India to a total of 237 runs in 20 overs.
South Africa's chase got off to a sluggish start as Temba Bavuma and Rilee Rossouw were dismissed for a duck once again. David Miller was the sole warrior as he scored an unbeaten 106 off just 47 balls hitting 8 fours and 7 sixes. Quinton de Kock was also unbeaten on 69 but it came from 48 balls which was not ideal in a big run chase. India bowled well up front and in the middle overs but the death bowling is still an issue for the men in blue. The bowling in the final overs is possibly the only concern India have as everything else looks pretty solid. The management may be looking to rest a few players while giving others a chance in the next match.
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