India scripted history at Guwahati’s Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Sunday, 2 October, as they defeated South Africa by 16 runs in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match T20I series. This victory marked India’s first home T20I series win against the Proteas.
Chasing a mammoth target of 238, South Africa were always second favourites, but their troubles were compounded when skipper Temba Bavuma and Rilee Rossouw were both dismissed for a duck.
Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock set up a 46-run stand for the third wicket, and following the former’s dismissal, David Miller joined de Kock to keep his team alive in the contest. The veteran batter did an excellent job to score 106 runs from 47 deliveries, while de Kock accumulated 69 runs from 48 deliveries.
However, it proved to be inadequate as the Proteas could only score 221 runs. For India, Arshdeep Singh was the most successful bowler in terms of wickets, as he dismissed both Bavuma and Rossouw.
Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul on Song Yet Again
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, the Indian batters did an exemplary job to score 237/3 in the second T20I of the three-match T20I series between India and South Africa, which is being played at Guwahati's Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
The men in blue had an excellent start, owing to their opening pair of skipper Rohit Sharma and vice-captain KL Rahul. The former scored 43 runs from 37 deliveries, while the latter was the aggressor in today's match, scoring 57 runs from 28 deliveries.
Rahul's form comes as a massive relief for the Indian camp ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022. This was his fourth half-century in his last six matches for the national team.
Keshav Maharaj broke the 96-run opening stand in the 10th over, while the spinner got the crucial wicket of Rahul in his very next over. However, that did not have any influence whatsoever on the scoring rate, thanks to a scintillating knock from Suryakumar Yadav.
The 32-year-old extended his sublime run of form as he scored his third consecutive half-century. Yadav accumulated 61 runs in only 22 deliveries, courtesy of his five sixes and as many fours
The Maharashtra-born batter was supported brilliantly by Virat Kohli, who missed out on what could have been his 34th T20I half-century by only one run, remaining not out on 49 runs. Kohli and Yadav brought up a 100-run stand in only 42 deliveries, which is the fastest 100-run partnership for India in this format of the game.
Following Yadav's dismissal in the penultimate over, Dinesh Karthik played a commendable cameo of 17 runs from 7 deliveries, which helped the boys in blue register the highest ever T20I score at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
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