South Africa skipper Aiden Markram decided to bowl first after winning the toss. The Proteas bowlers, who consisted of a mix of fast and spin bowling, earlier restricted India to 124 for 6 in their allotted 20 overs. Hardik Pandya top-scored for India with an unbeaten 39. Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Andile Simelane, Aiden Markram, and Nqabayomzi Peter each claimed a wicket.
Varun Chakaravarthy’s magical spell of 5 for 17 pegged South Africa back to a tight corner while chasing 125 in the second T20I at St George’s Park, Gqeberha, but still that wasn’t enough as Gerald Coetzee and Tristan Stubbs took the game out from the jaws of defeat and paved way for South Africa’s win.
India’s Batting Lineup Crumbles
Team India struggled with the bat today, it was a tough day yet again for opener Abhishek Sharma as he was dismissed at a mere score of 4 by Gerald Coetzee. Sanju Samson the hero from the first match went back for a duck by Marco Jansen. India lost its openers within three overs.
But the struggle went on to become even worse when India’s skipper Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed by a clever LBW by Andile Simelane. David Miller gained the spotlight when he took a stunning right-handed catch to sent back Tilak Varma.
Axar Patel fell victim of an unfortunate run-out and by then South Africa had already had a tight grip over the match. Rinku Singh was dismissed by Nqabayomzi Peter and he failed to finish the game strongly for India.
Hardik Pandya was the sole performer for India as he scored 39 runs and remained unbeaten to take India’s total to 124.
Stubbs And Coetzee Save South Africa From Jaws Of Defeat
Tristian Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee formed a good partnership when South Africa was in the jaws of defeat. Coetzee hit two consecutive fours in a row and reached the score of 19 in just 9 balls. While Stubbs kept his wicket safe on the other end and played safely at the score of 47 off 41.
Avesh Khan bowled a 12 run over that turned tables for South Africa. In just 19 overs the Proteas won the match with Stubbs finishing off in style by hitting a stunning four.
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Varun Chakaravarthy’s Fifer In Vain
Varun Chakaravarthy was the standout bowler for India, he took a stunning five-wicket haul and dismantled South Africa’s batting lineup but in all the twist and turn of events Tristan Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee stole the game from the jaws of defeat and paved way for South Africa’s strong victory. Chakaravarthy dismissed Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, he caught all the big fishes but still that wasn’t enough.
