After a crushing win in the series opener India lead South Africa 1-0 as the teams head into the second of five T20 Internationals at Mullanur on Thursday.
The Proteas won both matches in the two game test series which kicked off this tour, coming out on top by margins of 30 runs and 408 runs. Thereafter a 3 match ODI series went to a decider on and India clinched it, 2-1.
The first of the five T20’s was staged at Cuttack on Tuesday and India came out on top by all of 101 runs.
South Africa won the toss and opted to bowl first and India posted 175/6. Wickets fell at regular intervals but Hardik Pandya, batting at #6 hit an unbeaten 59 off 28 balls including 4 of his sides 9 maximums. Ngidi with 3/31 was the top SA wicket taker.
The writing was on the wall early with de Kock going second ball and Brevis with 22 was the only Proteas batsman to make it past 14 runs and they were bowled out for 74 in 12.3 overs. The wickets were shared around with 4 India bowlers both taking 2, Axar Patel with 2/7 off his 2 overs stood out.
This was how the teams lined up last time out.
India: Abhishek Sharma,Shubman Gill,Suryakumar Yadav (c),Tilak Varma,Hardik Pandya,Shivam Dube,Jitesh Sharma (wk),Axar Patel,Jasprit Bumrah,Varun Chakaravarthy,Arshdeep Singh
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk),Aiden Markram (c),Tristan Stubbs,Dewald Brevis,David Miller,Donovan Ferreira,Marco Jansen,Keshav Maharaj,Lutho Sipamla,Lungi Ngidi,Anrich Nortje
India Recent Form
In October / November India were 2-1 winners in a 5 match series in Australia (2 no results).
In September India came through the Asia Cup tournament unbeaten, getting the better of Pakistan in the final in Dubai.
In Jan / Feb this year India were 4-1 winners at home to England.
South Africa Recent Form
The Proteas tour of Pakistan in October / November, they won the first match by 55 runs but then went down by 9 wickets and 4 wickets to lose the series 2-1.
Prior to that an under-strength Proteas side were surprisingly beaten by Namibia in a one off contest in Windhoek. A 3 match series in England in September was shared 1-1 with the decider washed out whilst in August the Proteas lost 2-1 in Australia.
Recent Head to Head
The most recent meetings came in South Africa in November 2024 and India won a 4 match series 3-1.
Overall the teams have met 32 times in this format with India winning 19 to South Africa’s 12 with 1 no result
The Betting
At the time of writing India are 7/20 to win and South Africa are 1.95/1
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
Hardik Pandya was our Man of the Match pick at 12.5 on Tuesday, a decent start to the series punting wise.
The Proteas have some thinking to do after a tame surrender, albeit on a tricky surface for batting at at Cuttack and there is little data to work with in terms what conditions to expect at Mullanpur.
I’ll stick with George Linde (who didn’t get a game on Tuesday) as a value play to be the top SA bowler and a chance is given to Stubbs to be top run scorer after he came in at #3 on Tuesday.
Finally I’ll try and land another Man of the Match play and Axar Patel’s ability to contribute with bat as well as ball earns him the vote.
Bets: Top SA Bowler George Linde at 5.25/1 with Sportingbet
Top SA Run Scorer Tristan Stubbs at 9/2 with Sportingbet
Man of the Match, Axar Patel at 10.5/1 with Sportingbet
Prices subject to change