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South Africa Dominates India in 2nd T20I After Dismal Showing in Cuttack
Mullanpur, India – South Africa has defeated India in the second T20I match held in Mullanpur after a poor start in Cuttack, successfully defending a target of 214. India struggled early in their chase, losing wickets at regular intervals.
Shubman Gill was dismissed for a golden duck in the first over, setting a negative tone for the innings. Marco Jansen further exacerbated India’s woes by claiming the crucial wickets of Abhishek Sharma (17) and Suryakumar Yadav (5), leaving India reeling at 32/3 in the fourth over. Axar Patel’s promotion to No. 3 didn’t yield the desired results, falling for 20.
Tilak Varma showed resilience, reaching his fifty in 27 balls with a superb pull shot, and eventually top-scoring with an unbeaten 62. Hardik Pandya, however, struggled to find his rhythm, managing just 20 off 23 balls before being caught. Jitesh Sharma provided a brief spark with a quickfire cameo, including a six and a four off Ottneil Baartman, but his leading edge ended his innings at 27.
Earlier, South Africa’s innings was anchored by Quinton de Kock, who helped the visitors recover from their poor performance in the previous match. A late surge, fueled by Donovan Ferreira’s aggressive hitting (including two sixes off Jasprit Bumrah in the final over), propelled South Africa to a formidable total of 213/4. Despite a good start in the previous match, Arshdeep Singh conceded 54 runs, and Bumrah recorded his third-worst T20I figures.
The Indian chase never truly gained momentum, with the required run rate consistently climbing. Questions are being raised about the form of Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill, as India struggled to build partnerships and ultimately fell short of the target.
First Piper 