GQEBERHA(South Africa): Following his side’s three-wicket loss to South Africa in the second T20I, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav expressed happiness with spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s game-changing five-wicket haul, saying that everyone enjoyed his spell.
Chakravarthy’s game-changing spell went in vain as Proteas recovered from a batting collapse and were rescued on time by Tristan Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee, who guided the hosts to a three-wicket win during a run-chase of 125 runs.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Suryakumar said, “You always have to back whatever total you get. Of course, in a T20 game, you do not want to get 125 or 140 but I am proud of the way our boys bowled. (On Varun Chakaravarthy’s 5-fer) In a T20 game someone getting a 5-fer defending 125 and in this situation, it is incredible. He worked really hard on his game and he has been waiting for this stage, and everyone enjoyed it. Brilliant performance from him. Two games to go, a lot of entertainment left and it will be fun at Johannesburg.”
The four-match series is now level at 1-1.
SA won the toss and elected to bowl first. India lost their wickets at regular intervals and there were no big partnerships. Handy knocks from Hardik Pandya (39* in 45 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Axar Patel (27 in 21 balls, with four boundaries) and Tilak Varma (20 in 20 balls, with one four and a six) took India to 124/6 in their 20 overs.
Marco Jansen and Coetzee created problems for Indian batters with their four-over spells of 1/25 each. Andile and Peter got a wicket each.
In the run-chase of 125, India was in a dominant position, having reduced SA to 87/6 thanks to a five-wicket haul from Varun Chakravarthy (5/17). However, Stubbs (47* in 41 balls, with seven fours) and Coetzee (19* in 9 balls, with two fours and a six) disrupted India’s plans with a counter-attack, taking the side to a win with an over and three wickets left.
Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh also picked up a wicket each for India. Stubbs became the ‘Player of the Match’. (ANI)