South Africa beat India by 4 wickets in the second T20I at Cuttack.
India 148/6 (Shreyas Iyer 40, Dinesh Karthik 30 not out, Ishan Kishan 34, Anrich Nortje 2/36, Kagiso Rabada 1/15)
South Africa 149/2 in 18.2 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 81, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/13)
Heinrich Klaasen, playing in place of an injured Quinton de Kock, made the most of his opportunity and smashed a career-high 81 off 46 to help South Africa cruise to a four wicket win over India and take a 2-0 lead in the five match T20I series, on Sunday at Cuttack.
India batted first and a late flourish from Dinesh Karthik rescued their innings with 30 runs coming off the last 2 overs to help the team post 148/6. Anrich Nortje took two wickets while Wayne Parnell and Kagiso Rabada were economical with a wicket each.
On a two-paced track where most of the batters struggled, Klaasen made it look ridiculously easy as he smashed seven fours and five towering sixes in his 46-ball knock to help his team knock off a target of 149 with 10 balls to spare. The wicketkeeper-batter completed his fourth T20I fifty in 32 balls before smashing three sixes off Yuzvendra Chahal to virtually seal the chase.
Henrich Klassen of South Africa plays a shot during the 2nd T20I against India at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack.
(Photo: BCCI)
India Made to Bat First
Earlier, Temba Bavuma won the toss once again and elected to bowl first with Kagiso Rabada making the most of the new ball, picking the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the sixth delivery of the match. He brilliantly set up Gaikwad with a barrage of short balls before mixing up a fuller one to cleverly deceive the opener en route a miserly spell 4-0-15-1 that included 13 dot balls.
Ishan Kishan, the hosts' top-scorer in the previous match, then collaborated with Shreyas Iyer to stitch together the team's highest partnership of the match, scoring 45 runs to get the team to 42/1 after 6 overs.
Anrich Nortje of South Africa celebrates the wicket of Ishan Kishan.
(Photo: BCCI)
Anrich Nortje ended their partnership, sending Ishan back for 34 as skipper Rishabh Pant walked into bat at number four to join Shreyas.
Unlike Delhi, where Proteas' skipper Temba Bavuma brought spinners in the first over, he kept spin away for 8 overs. In the ninth over, left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was introduced and went for 14 runs after Iyer hit him for a four and a six. But, Keshav Maharaj showed smartness in the next over, bowled outside off at an onrushing Rishabh Pant (5) who mistimed his slog to the sweeper cover fielder, leaving India to 68/3 in 9.1 overs.
From thereon, the onus was on Hardik Pandya and a settled Iyer to take India forward. But, Bavuma brought Wayne Parnell back into the attack and the pacer bowled a ball with the angle to knock Pandya's stumps down.
Very soon, Iyer nicked off a Dwaine Pretorius delivery, which was caught by Klaasen behind the wickets. India still had hopes from Dinesh Karthik and Axar pair -- the last recognised pair to take their team to a competitive total. But Axar (10) couldn't do much, got out to Nortje in the last delivery of the 17th over, leaving India tottering at 112/6.
That in-form finisher Dinesh Karthik was sent way down at No 7, behind Axar Patel may not have been the smartest call as the team's designated 'finisher' went onto make 30 off 21 balls, smashing two sixes and two fours to give the total some semblance of respectability.
Harshal Patel (12 not out from nine balls) gave Karthik good company as the duo improved the Indian run-rate stitching together 36 runs from the last three overs to give them some respite.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar celebrates the wicket of Rassie van der Dussen of South Africa during the 2nd T20I between India and South Africa.
(Photo: BCCI)
South Africa's Chase
Defending a modest 149, the Rishabh Pant-led India got off to a superb start thanks to 'Swing King' Bhuvneshwar's triple blow in successive overs.
Bhuvneshwar, who looked out of sorts in the Kotla T20I, was back in his element as he sharply swung the ball back in to clean up Reeza Hendricks in his first over. He then dismissed Dwaine Pretorius with a knuckle ball before castling the in-form Rassie van der Dussen (1).
South Africa were reduced to 29/3 in 5.3 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal of Indian reacts after picking the wicket of Temba Babuma.
(Photo: BCCI)
Making a comeback after more than seven months, Klaasen never took his foot off the pedal and got his team out of the woods after Bhuvneshwar's onslaught. He first shared a match-turning 64-run partnership, from 41 balls, with skipper Temba Bavuma (35) before in-form David Miller joined him in the middle.
The pair added 51 runs off 28 deliveries before Klaasen, looking to finish it off with a six, fell victim to Harshal Patel on the last ball of the 17th over. At the fall of his wicket, South Africa were 144/5.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a brilliant 18th over, conceding just three runs and picking the wicket of Wayne Parnell to finish at 4/13.
Shreyas Iyer was given the 19th over and David Miller completed the run chase with a double off the second ball.
South Africa now lead the five match series 2-0.
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