South Africa outclass India to clinch T20 series

De Villiers removes the bails to leave Virat Kohli short of the crease

South Africa defeated India by 6 wickets in the 2^nd T20I at Cuttack to clinch the T20 series 2-0. A disciplined effort by the visitors on the field saw India being bowled out for 92 runs from 17.2 overs and with the hosts staring at defeat, a section of the crowd resorted to throwing bottles on the field of play, forcing play to be suspended on two separate occasions before South Africa clinched a deserving victory with a little under three overs to spare.

Chances of the run-feast at Dharmasala repeating itself was slim, but he Indian batsmen disappointed as they were bowled out in the 18th over on a pitch that was far from troublesome. The ball did take off on a few occasions with Kagiso Rabada especially dishing out some sharp bouncers, but it was the running between the wickets that did India in.

South African skipper Faf du Plessis once again won the decisive toss and had no hesitation in sending in India to bat with the dew factor in mind. Both teams made one change each as South Africa bolstered their batting ranks with the inclusion of all-rounder Albie Morkel in place of Marchant de Lange. The hosts as expected brought in an another spinner with veteran offie Harbhajan Singh replacing Sreenath Aravind.

Losing wickets in clusters was the story of the Indian innings as the hosts were bowled out in just 17.2 overs. The disciplined South African bowling was well backed by their fielding as both of India’s batting heroes from the last match – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – were dismissed run out.

A miscommunication between the pair resulted in Kohli finding himself short of the crease as he was heading back to the second run while Rohit was run-out at the non-striker’s end after attempting a non-existent single, with David Miller hitting the stumps directly.

Rayudu yet again failed to open the account pinning India’s hopes squarely on the pair of Dhoni and Raina. Hopes were raised as they forged a 22-run partnership, but the skipper perished after playing a loose shot outside the off stump. India lost two further wickets as Raina and Harbhajan fell to googlies by Tahir, reducing the hosts to 69/7.

Another double blow ensued as Axar Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were dismissed in quick succession with the score at 85. Morkel accounted for the pair and finished with impressive figures of 4-0-12-3. Ashwin was clean bowled by Morris for 11 as India’s efforts of reaching the 100-run mark ended 8 runs short.

The South African seemed to be intent on chasing down the target in quick time with De Villiers smashing two crisp boundaries off the first over bowled by Bhuvneshwar. Dhoni, understanding the importance of not letting the game get away, brought on Ashwin from the other end and the move paid off as Amla flicked one to Rohit’s hands at leg slip.

Encouraged by the wicket, Dhoni opted for Harbhajan at the other end but the veteran offie was less effective and it was Ashwin who picked up the two other wickets to fall. Du Plessis looked to unsettle him charging down the ground and though he was successful twice managing a four and a six, it was Ashwin who had the last laugh as the South African skipper was held by the mid-off fielder.

De Villers too fell soon after but the result was never in doubt as the pair of Duminy and Behardien once again pushed their team towards the target and the Cuttack crowd chose to make their frustrations known by throwing bottles on the field that led to a 27-minute hold-up. Two overs were bowled after the resumption of play before further crowd trouble forced play to be suspended further.

Behardien was dismissed by Axar when play resumed again but there was no further drama as the visitors went on to clinch victory by six wickets.