The home season started off to a winning start as India defeated South Africa by 7 wickets in the 2nd T20I played at PCA Stadium, Mohali on Wednesday.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field first. Quinton de Kock gave the South African team a good start with attacking stroke play. Deepak Chahar got the breakthrough dismissing Reeza Hendricks for 6. After that, the Indian bowlers did not allow Bavuma and de Kock to score runs easily. At the end of 6 overs, South Africa were 39 for 1.
De Kock and Bavuma steadied the innings with good stroke play. De Kock reached his fifty off 35 balls and was soon dismissed by Saini for 52 with a superb catch by Virat Kohli. De Kock and Bavuma added 57 runs for the 2nd wicket. In the next over, Ravindra Jadeja produced a brilliant return catch to dismiss Van der Dussen. Andile Phehlukwayo and Pretorius scored 16 runs to help South Africa post 149 for 5. Deepak Chahar was the leading wicket-taker with 2 wickets.
Chasing the target of 150 runs to win, Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma gave the team a steady start adding 33 runs for the opening wicket. Andile Phehlukawyo got the breakthrough dismissing Rohit Sharma with a slower delivery. Virat Kohli and Dhawan made batting look easy. At the end of 6 overs, India were 47 for 1.
Kohli and Dhawan played with confidence putting pressure on South African bowling line up. Shamsi got the breakthrough dismissing Dhawan for 40 with a brilliant catch by David Miller. Dhawan and Kohli added 61 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Rishabh Pant played a poor stroke and was dismissed cheaply again. Virat Kohli made the batting look easy and reached his fifty off 40 balls. Shreyas Iyer remained not out on 16 and hit the winning run. India won the match by 7 wickets with 1 over to spare.
The 3rd and final T20I will be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on 22nd September 2019.
India 151 for 3 in 19 overs ( Virat Kohli 72*, Shikhar Dhawan 40, T Shamsi 1/19) beat South Africa 149 for 5 in 20 overs ( Quinton de Kock 52, Bavuma 49, Deepak Chahar 2/22) by 7 wickets.
