(Cricket news) South Africa defeated India by 4 wickets with 10 balls to spare in the 2nd T20I. The Proteas lead the 5 match series 2-0 and have won all 7 matches against India this year in addition to the two Tests they won at the end of last year. India are getting well and truly outplayed in their own backyard. It will now take unbelievable character and quality for India to win the series from this position.
Temba Bavuma once again won the toss and elected to bowl first. India struggled to cope with the pitch in the 1st innings as they could only manage 148/6. Ishan Kishan scored 34 off 21 balls while Shreyas Iyer got 40 off 35 balls. Other than that the entire top order failed to stick around. Dinesh Karthik who initially struggled, finished with 30 off 21 balls to get India to a defendable total. The pitch was definitely fast bowler friendly as the two specialist spinners bowled a combined 4 overs. After having a bad game in Delhi, Keshav Maharaj had an excellent game as he finished with figures of 1/12 in 2 overs. Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Dwaine Pretorius and Wayne Parnell all had excellent spells as they kept Indian batters at bay.
The Indian bowlers didn't have enough runs to defend but Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed his class. The U.P seamer finished with figures of 4/13 in his four overs. He got the new ball to dance to his instructions by picking up 3 wickets in the powerplay. Unfortunately his efforts went in vain as Heinrich Klaasen, who replaced the injured Quinton de Kock scored an incredible 81 off 46 balls to lead South Africa to victory. David Miller and Temba Bavuma played cameos as the Proteas always looked in control. Apart from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Avesh Khan all Indian bowlers were expensive and couldn't trouble the visiting batters.
Rishabh Pant's first two games as India skipper haven't gone too well. Both the wickets have been extremely tricky to read especially for the captains. India now have 3 must win matches coming up which will be anything but easy. South Africa is the team which India have struggled to get the better of recently. India will have no option but to make some changes in the playing XI in the next match. Both Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik will be the first ones in Rahul Dravid's mind as the players to come in.
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