India vs South Africa LIVE: Chakravarthy 5-wicket haul dismantles SA

India vs South Africa LIVE: Varun Chakravarthy’s five-wicket haul left South Africa in turmoil

Earlier, Hardik Pandya tried to get going after a slow start but could only finish unbeaten as Marco Jansen started with a wicket maiden and the Proteas took three wickets in the powerplay, including that of Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav. India lost half their team before reaching 75 by the 12th over.

There was a light drizzle when Markram announced his decision at the toss, but there has been no sign of rain since. Sanju Samson’s outstanding form helped India easily beat South Africa in the first T20I, although that series was played at their home stadium. However, the event was held in Durban, which didn’t sit well with the Proteas in that format. The same cannot be said at St George’s Park in Gqeberha, where T20I cricket is a rarity but South Africa have won on most occasions when they play here.

This will be the fifth T20I to be played at the venue. South Africa had lost their first match against the West Indies in the 2007 T20 World Cup. Since then, they have beaten New Zealand by 33 runs in 2012, Australia by 12 runs in 2020 and India by five wickets in 2023.

India opener Samson has hit a purple patch to say the least and that has helped them cover up the fact that this is their first T20I tour outside Asia since they won the T20 World Cup earlier this year. The win in Durban was India’s 11th consecutive win in the format. The previous defeat in the T20Is surprisingly came right after the T20 World Cup final in neighboring Zimbabwe.

In total, they have played 23 T20Is this year and won 22. More importantly, they seem to have completely shed their tendency to play conservatively with the bat in this format. On the contrary, India seems to have moved completely to the other end of the spectrum. They have scored over 200 runs in each of their last three T20Is, including a record 297/6 in their third T20I against Bangladesh. In fact, the only time they didn’t score more than 200 in this series was in the first T20I, where they chased down a target of 129 in 11.5 overs.

This series is seen as something of a grudge match as it is the first time that South Africa will face India since the team were rather surprisingly beaten in the T20 World Cup final. They could hardly avenge that defeat in the first T20I and interestingly, the spinners suffocating Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller once again proved to be the catalyst for India’s victory, as was the case in the death overs of the T20 World Cup final by Indian pacers.

South Africa will be without Kagiso Rabada and Quinton de Kock, two key players in this final. While Rabada was rested, de Kock retired. They will be wary of the threat posed by almost all of India’s top six players, who have been firing on all cylinders in the months since they became world champions.

Apart from Samson, India will also hope that pacer Arshdeep Singh continues to give good starts. Arshdeep’s early wickets in the powerplay were crucial to their winning streak. He has taken 33 wickets in 21 T20Is this year at an average of 18.12, with his best bowling figures being 4/37. just five wickets away from breaking veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s record of most wickets by an Indian bowler in T20Is in a single calendar year.

Highlights from India vs South Africa 2nd T20I:

– Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller consecutively from balls to complete his five-wicket haul

– India were restricted to 124/6 in 20 overs

– India completed more than five overs without a boundary in the middle overs

– India lost three wickets in the powerplay

– Sanju Samson fell for a duck as Marco Jansen started with a wicket-maiden for South Africa

– India made no changes from the team that won the first T20I

– South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to bowl first

– India leads the four-match series 1-0 after winning the first T20I by 61 runs

– India are just one win away from equaling their longest T20I winning streak