Cricket
South Africa rout India by 51 runs, level T20I series
South Africa took sweet revenge as they crushed India by 51 runs in the second T20I to level the series at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, on Thursday night.
“Much better tonight. Started with a special knock from QDK and some contributions. Bowlers are trending in the right direction. Fielding good too. Pitch was good, something for the bowlers. If batters got in, they could put bowlers under pressure. Great support for India, good stadium,” said an elated South African skipper Aiden Markram.
Chasing a mammoth 214, India were never in the game as they lost wickets early on. Shubman Gill (0) did not trouble the scorers as he was caught by Reeza Hendricks off a Lungi Ngidi delivery. Abhishek Sharma (17) too didn’t last long and with captain Suryakumar Yadav (5) woefully out of form, India were reduced to 32 for three.
Axar Patel (21) and Tilak Varma tried to undo the damage with a 35-run partnership, but the South African bowlers were on top right through. Their persistence paid off as Patel was removed by Ottneil Baartman, who went on to scalp four for 24.
Tilak looked the most confident of the Indian batters as he struck some lusty blows, but he never really got the needed support from the other end. With the run rate make a constant upwards a move, the Indians succumbed to the pressure. Hardik Pandya (20) and Jitesh Sharma (27) tried to push the pedal, but they were undone by the disciplined bowling of their rivals. Baartman took three wickets in the 19th over to more or less wind up the proceedings.
“The seamers let me do my thing. We knew something was in the surface and we tried to use the purchase off it. The swing bowlers did their thing, we just tried to use wobble and cross seam and went shorter than fuller. Whenever the captain calls you up, you gotta be ready to bowl,” said Baartman after the game.
Tilak was the last man to fall after making a 34-ball 62 with two fours and five sixes.
Earlier, South Africa posted a mammoth total of 213-4 in 20 overs after batting first. Quinton de Kock hammered a 46-ball 90 with five fours and seven sixes as the South Africans kept the pressure on the Indian bowlers. Aiden Markram made 29 but fell when trying to step up the scoring.
After the departure of de Kock, it was left to Donovan Ferreira (30 not out off 16 balls) and David Miller (20 not out off 12 balls) to power the South Africans past the 200-run mark. The duo added 53 off just 25 balls for the unbroken fifth wicket. They struck 49 off the last three overs. The visitors got 90 off the first 10 overs and 123 off the last 10. Varun Chakravarthy picked two wickets for India.
“It’s okay, completely fine. SA realised the lengths to bowl from the first innings. Little bit of dew. We should’ve gone to a second plan if the first didn’t work. Gotta learn from SA. With bat, myself and Shubman could’ve given a good start. Abhishek can’t always do it. I should’ve batted deeper, we learn and try to do better. Axar at 3, we’ve seen him bat and wanted him to do the same. He did bat well, gotta see what happens in the next games,” said Suryakumar Yadav.
SCOREBOARD
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (run out) 90, Reeza Hendricks b Varun 8, Aiden Markram c Patel b Varun 29, Dewald Brevis c Varma b Patel 14, Donovan Ferrerira (not out) 30, David Miller (not out) 20; Extras: (B1, LB5, W16) 22. Total: (For 4 wickets in 20 overs) 213.
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-121, 3-156, 4-160.
Bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-54-0, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-45-0, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-29-2, Axar Patel 3-0-27-1, Hardik Pandya 3-0-34-0, Shivam Dube 2-0-18-0.
India: Abhishek Sharma c de Kock b Jansen 17, Shubman Gill c Hendricks b Ngidi 0, Axar Patel c Hendricks b Baartman 21, Suryakumar Yadav c de Kock b Jansen 5, Tilak Varma c Markram b Ngidi 62, Hardik Pandya c Brevis b Sipamla 20, Jitesh Sharma c Baartman b Sipamla 27, Shivam Dube b Baartman 1, Arshdeep Singh c Miller b Baartman 4, Varun Chakravarthy c Markram b Baartman 0, Jasprit Bumrah (not out) 0; Extras: (B3, LB1, W1) 5. Total: (all out in 19.1 overs) 162.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-19, 3-32, 4-67, 5-118, 6-157, 7-158, 8-162, 9-162.
Bowling: Lungi Ngidi 3.1-0-26-2, Marco Jansen 4-0-25-2, Lutho Sipamla 4-0-46-2, Donovan Ferreira 1-0-14-0, Ottneil Baartman 4-0-24-4, George Linde 3-0-23-0.