The second T20 international between India and South Africa takes place at Cuttack on Sunday and after a thrilling victory in the opening match the Proteas are 1-0 up in the series.
The opening game in this 5 match series was staged in Delhi on Thursday and the Proteas pulled off their highest ever successful run chase in a 7 wicket victory.
The Proteas won the toss and opted to bowl first and India posted 211/4 with Ishan Kishan top scoring with 76 off 48 balls. The top 5 batsmen all made contributions and a quick fire 31 off 12 balls from Hardik Pandya saw India sail past 200. The Indian's smashed 14 maximums and Parnell (1/32) suffered least of the Proteas bowlers.
The South African chase started briskly and elevated to number 3 Dwaine Pretorius hit 29 off just 13 balls. When the third wicket fell Man of the Match David Miller (64 off 31) and van der Dussen (75 off 46) took the score from 81/3 all the way to the target which was reached with 5 balls to spare. The Proteas also cleared the ropes 14 times and Avesh Khan (0/35) was the only Indian bowler to return an economy rate of less than 10 runs per over.
This was how the sides lined up at Delhi.
India: Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 16 times with India winning 9 to South Africa's 7.
The most recent series came in India in November 2019 and it was shared 1-1
The Betting - 2nd T20
At the time of writing India are 15/20 to win the match and South Africa are 21/20
Ishan Kishan is 13/5 to top score for India, Quinton de Kock is 5/2 to do likewise for the Proteas
India are 8/11 to hit the most 6's with South Africa 6/4 and a tie is 7/1
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
India were as short as 8/15 to win the opening game in Delhi and it took a terrific effort from the Proteas batting line up to pull off an upset. It's a long series with plenty of scope for a few more twists and turns, I can see it going the distance but I'm shying away from a match result call here.
Spinners were expensive in Delhi but Chahal has a 4 wicket haul against his name at this venue and he gets the vote to justify favouritism in the top Indian bowler market.
Shreyas Iyer batted at 3 for India on in Delhi, a key position and he was solid enough with 36 off 27 balls and he is my pick to top score for the hosts.
Bets: Top Indian Wicket Taker Chahal at 5/2
Top Indian Run Scorer Shreyas Iyer at 7/2
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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