Finance
South Africa tied the five-game series with a stunning 51-run victory against India in the second T20I on Thursday at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh, thanks to Quinton de Kock’s blistering 90 and Ottniel Baartman’s 4-24.
De Kock set the tone for South Africa, scoring 213/4 with crisp hitting at the top and spectacular drives hit square of the wicket through the leg-side, while his 46-ball 90 included five fours and seven sixes. He also had an 83-run stand with skipper Aiden Markram for the second wicket, which could keep IPL franchises interested in signing him at next week’s auction.
India temporarily clawed back with scalps, with Varun Chakaravarthy claiming two. South Africa seized control in the final stages, with David Miller (20 not out) and Donovan Ferreira (30 not out) adding 53 runs off only 25 balls to bring the score above 210. In response, India’s chase faltered early and never recovered from the blows of losing Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, and captain Suryakumar Yadav.
With Axar Patel’s perplexing promotion to number three failing to pay off, Tilak Varma was the only Indian hitter to find rhythm and demonstrate some enterprise, scoring 62 off 34 balls. But he lacked support from the other end as wickets tumbled around him, and Varma was the last man to fall as India were bowled out for 162 in 19.1 overs.
South Africa’s bowlers maintained pressure throughout, used their cutters well, and conceded only five extras, including three wides, in tough bowling conditions, where India conceded a whopping 15 extras – seven of which came from Arshdeep Singh. Apart from Baartman, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, and Lutho Sipamla took two wickets each.
Inserted into batting first, de Kock gave South Africa a flying start by carting an erring Arshdeep for two sixes and a four in the third over. De Kock and Reeza Hendricks feasted on the short ball by getting a pulled six each off Jasprit Bumrah in the fourth over.
India switched to spin in the fifth over, and Chakravarthy made the first breakthrough by dismissing Hendricks with a faster delivery that slipped through the pitch. Chakravarthy’s dismissal extended his lead over Hendricks in T20Is, as he had removed the batter three times in seven balls.
Despite this, South Africa maintained its momentum when de Kock targeted Axar Patel in the sixth over, drawing him for a soaring six before punching and glancing off Hardik Pandya and Chakaravarthy for a pair of boundaries.
While Markram was yet to find fluency, de Kock reached his half-century off 26 balls with a leg-side whip off a full toss from Pandya, before dancing down the pitch to thump Axar for a maximum and launching an off-colour Arshdeep, who gave a staggering seven wides in an 18-run 11th over, down the ground for another six.
Markram seemed to have found his stride as he smashed Chakaravarthy over long-on for successive sixes. But, seeking to knock another six, Markram grounded out to deep midwicket, handing Chakaravarthy his second wicket.
De Kock continued to dazzle, hitting Pandya for boundaries before being dismissed by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma, who moved rapidly to his left, parried the ball between gloves, and snapped the stumps.
One brought two for India as Axar crowded Dewald Brevis for space, and the top-edge on pull was collected by long on sprinting in to finish the diving low catch. With conditions being tough for bowlers, Miller and Ferreira hit six boundaries between themselves in the last three overs to lift South Africa past the 210-run mark.
India’s chase began in disarray as Gill was undone by a fantastic delivery from Ngidi that straightened off a decent length, squared him up, and found the edge to slip, resulting in a golden duck. Abhishek, who had already crossed the boundary ropes twice, was totally squared up when Jansen hit one straight over the middle stump, drawing an outside edge to the keeper and dismissing him for 17.
Axar came in at number three, but Suryakumar quickly left when he chased a back-of-a-length ball from Jansen and edged behind to de Kock. Varma provided some fight, hitting three boundaries, the best being a blasted six off Sipamla. But South Africa continued to chip away as Axar’s attempt to break free ended in chipping a drive to give cover a low catch off Baartman.
Varma used the pull and switch hit to score sixes before slog-sweeping Ngidi for his fifth T20I fifty in 27 balls. But South Africa kept chipping away, as a struggling Pandya holed out to deep midwicket off Sipamla, just a ball after being dropped by long-on.
Despite further soaring shots from Varma and Jitesh Sharma, who hammered 27 off 17 balls, the result was predetermined in South Africa’s favor, as the visitors recorded a great series-levelling victory.
Brief scores:
South Africa 213/4 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 90, Donovan Ferreira 30 not out; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-29, Axar Patel 1-27) beat India 162 all out in 19.1 overs (Tilak Varma 62, Jitesh Sharma 27; Ottniel Baartman 4-24, Marco Jansen 2-25) by 51 runs
Source: IANS
