Coetzee and Jansen shine as South Africa restrict India to 124/6 in the 2nd T20I

SA needs to score 125 runs to level the series at 1-1.

After South Africa won the toss and sent India into the field first, the current T20 World Champions got off to a poor start as pace duo Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee quickly got rid of swashbuckling openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. After making centuries in the last two of his T20Is, Sanju hit rock bottom.

India were 5/2 in 1.5 overs.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav too couldn’t stay for long and continued his hot and cold year in the T20Is. He was caught leg before wicket by pacer Andile Simelane for just four runs in nine balls. India were 15/3 in four overs.

Left-handers Tilak Varma and Axar Patel led India through the rest of the Powerplay without losing any wickets and ended the sixth over at 34/3 with Tilak and Axar unbeaten.

However, their partnership was broken after just 30 runs. Tilak controlled an outside-off throw from skipper Aiden Markram that ended up in the hands of David Miller at covers, hitting the youngster with a four and a six for 20 in 20 balls. India were 45/4 in eight overs.

With the help of a four from Axar after a Keshav Maharaj delivery through cover, India reached the 50-run mark in 8.5 overs.

Axar and Hardik Pandya were just forming another partnership when an unfortunate run-out ended Axar’s stay at Cree for a 21-ball 27 with four boundaries. India were 70/5 in 11.5 overs.

After 15 overs, India were 86/5 with Hardik and Rinku Singh unbeaten.

Rinku’s stay at the crease was also short-lived as he could only score nine runs in 11 balls, giving Nqabayomzi Peter his first wicket. Gerald Coetzee took a great catch while Rinku attempted a slogsweep. India were 87/6 in 15.2 overs.

India reached the 100-run mark in 16.5 overs.

Hardik relieved some pressure in the 18th over by hitting Jansen for two fours and a six, taking the score to 115/6. However, Coetzee’s next over could only fetch India three runs as Pandya struggled to bowl it out and missed two flat full tosses.

India’s innings ended at 124/6 with Hardik and Arshdeep Singh.

Coetzee and Jansen caused problems for India by producing quality spells of 1/25 each in their four overs. Markram, Peter and Andile also each received a scalp.

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