South Africa outlasted India by four wickets in the 2nd T20 International on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in a 5-match series.
It was not David Miller but Heinrich Klaasen whose unbeaten 81-run knock helped South Africa to secure a comfortable win over the host team.
SA after winning the toss invited India to bat first, restricted the Rishabh Pant-led side to just 148 in 20 overs, and later with the help of Klassen’s magnificent 81 and skipper Temba Bavuma’s crucial 35 the visitors secured the victory.
Team India, who lost the first game in New Delhi on Thursday even after posting 211 runs on board in 20 overs, needed to post good score in the second match to remain in series contention, but they struggled against the mighty South Africa side and only manged to put 148 on board in their 20 overs.
Shreyas Iyer remained the top scorer for India with 40, while the opener Ishan Kishan played a decent knock of 35. India lost their sixth wicket when they were at just 112 in 17 overs, but thanks to Dinesh Karthik’s 21-ball 30*, India reached 148.
Chasing the target of 149, South Africa faced a dreary start courtesy of the veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s brilliant spell. However, Heinrich Klassen and the skipper Temba Bavuma did a 64-run partnership to put South Africa on track.
The visitors then looked all set for a comfortable victory but Yuzvendra Chahal removed Bavuma to put some pressure on the South Africa side. However, Klaasen after that took the destructive route and went on to smash his highest score in T20Is.
He played a knock of 81 in just 46 with the help of seven fours and five sixes and did his job quite well before being dismissed when the team only needed 5 runs to win in 24 balls.
David Miller, who claimed the man of the match award in the 1st T20I, hit the winning runs for his side.
The third match of the series will be played on June 14 at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Vishakhapatnam.
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