India put on a bowling masterclass after opting to chase as the new ball bowlers were magnificent before the others chipped in. Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh were magnificent with ball in hand not to mention the others as well. Only Aiden Markram with his 61 was the shining light for South Africa. They need a miracle to win this game from here.
Harshit Rana’s double strike rocks South Africa in powerplay
Put into bat first, Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks came out to bat for South Africa while Arshdeep Singh had ball in hand for India. Arshdeep struck straightaway as he trapped Hendricks for a bronze duck thanks to good usage of DRS after the umpire gave it NOT OUT on-field. Captain Aiden Markram came out to bat next. Harshit Rana had ball in hand from the other end.
Harshit removed de Kock plumb in front for 1 off 3 balls. Dewald Brevis came out to bat next. He initially survived a scare as the fielder did not get to the ball. Arshdeep continued as Brevis survived a LBW scare as India burnt a review. Markram hit the first boundary of the match by punching it down the ground for a boundary. Rana got another as he cleaned up Brevis for 2 off 7 balls as he chopped it back onto the stumps.
Tristan Stubbs came out to bat next. Stubbs survived a scare as he survived LBW and caught and neither thing happened as the ball did too much and did not hit the bat. Arshdeep continued and bowled a miserly over. Rana came to bowl the final over of powerplay as Markram punched it between mid-off and covers for a boundary. Markram hit another boundary to flick it between square leg and mid-on for a boundary. At the end of the powerplay, South Africa were struggling at 25/3 in 6 overs.
India keep chipping away at the wickets to keep South Africa under pressure in middle overs
Hardik Pandya came into the attack after the powerplay. He struck straightaway as he dismissed Stubbs for 9 off 13 balls by getting the edge through to the keeper. Corbin Bosch came into the attack next. Varun Chakaravarthy came into the attack next. He bowled a decent over. Hardik continued as Markram drove it on the up through mid-off and extra cover for a boundary. Varun continued as Bosch got a lifeline with Abhishek Sharma dropping a sitter at short midwicket.
South Africa were 44/4 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the innings when we paused for the Drinks Break. Shivam Dube came into the attack after the break. He cleaned up Bosch for 4 off 9 balls. Donovan Ferreira came out to bat next. Markram survived a minor run out scare. Dube bowled a successful over. Kuldeep Yadav came into the attack next. The 50 came up for South Africa in 11.2 overs. Ferreira took on Kuldeep and slog swept him away over forward square leg for the maximum.
Dube continued as Ferreira was put down by Arshdeep Singh at long-on as he allowed a single. Ferreira added salt to the wounds as he waited for the ball to pull it away to deep midwicket for a boundary. Varun Chakaravarthy came back into the attack. He soon removed Ferreira for 20 off 15 balls with one four and one six to his name as Varun picked up his 50th T20I wicket. Marco Jansen came out to bat next.
Dube continued as Markram backed away to make room and he looked to go inside out over extra cover as the bat turned in his hands as the ball went to deep cover where Harshit Rana ran in to take the catch but over ran it as the ball went away for a boundary. Markram lived to fight for another day. South Africa at the completion of 15 overs were 77/6.
Aiden Markram’s half-century helps South Africa post 117 as India ended a disciplined bowling display
Varun Chakaravarthy continued and got rid of Marco Jansen for 2 off 7 balls as he was cleaned up. Anrich Nortje came out to bat next. Varun finished his miserly spell. Hardik came back into the attack. Nortje took on Hardik as he swivelled and hooked it away over backward square leg for the maximum. Rana came back into the attack as Markram took the attack to him by hitting a boundary by slicing it over backward point and then hit a maximum by whacking it over deep extra cover for the maximum as Markram got to his 10th T20I fifty. South Africa brought up their 100 for 17.2 overs.
Markram hit another maximum by flat batting it over the bowler’s head for the maximum. Arshdeep came back into the attack and picked out the big fish as he dismissed Markram for 61 off 46 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name as the fuller length wide outside off-stump was edged to the keeper. Lungi Ngidi came out to bat next. He got off the mark soon.
Kuldeep Yadav came to bowl the final over of the innings as he removed Nortje for 12 off 12 balls with one six to his name as he came down the track to be stumped by Jitesh Sharma who did the rest. Ottneil Baartman came out to bat at 11 next and got off the mark as well. Kuldeep dismissed Baartman for 1 off 2 balls as the ball went straight to Surya at extra covers who made no mistake. Ngidi stayed unbeaten on 2 off 3 balls as South Africa were bowled out for 117 in 20 overs. Just 3 extras given by India.
It was an all-round bowling display by the Indian bowlers. Varun Chakaravarthy was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/11 in 4 overs. Arshdeep Singh bowled really well for his 2/13 in 4 overs. Harshit Rana picked up 2/34 in 4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with 2/12 in 2 overs. Hardik Pandya finished with 1/23 in 3 overs. Shivam Dube finished with 1/21 in 3 overs. So, that means India’s target was 118 runs to win off 20 overs.
Who’s Winning, India or South Africa?Â
Despite a lone effort and an amazing innings by Aiden Markram, South Africa have got a below par score on the board. They only got there due to Markram. But the conditions are challenging and India needs to bat sensibly to win this game. Advantage India for sure but South Africa can come back into the game with early wickets.
Let’s see how the chase pans out from here.
Also Read:Â IND vs SA: India & South Africa Look To Edge Ahead With Series Squared