Heinrich Klaasen’s phenomenal 81-run knock helped South Africa take a 2-0 lead over India with a comprehensive win by four wickets with 10 balls to spare at Barabadi Stadium, Cuttack. On a wicket that had even bounce, Klaasen stood out with his sensational hard-hitting and aggressive approach in the tricky run chase of 149.
Bhuvi's new ball magic
South Africa's run chase got off to a rocky start. Bhuvneshwar Kumar let the new ball talk and removed Reeza Henricks in the first over. Promoting Dwaine Pretorius to no.3 did not work either as he got out in the next over of Bhuvneshwar. The Indian bowling spearhead tied down Rassie van der Dussen and got his wicket in the sixth over to put more pressure on South African batters. During the fielding restrictions, Bhuvneshwar conceded just 10 runs.
Run chase back on track
The partnership between skipper Bavuma and Klaasen revived the run chase. Bavuma played second fiddle to the wicketkeeper-batter Klaasen who went after the bowlers in the middle overs. The opener stayed till the 13th over and scored 35 runs from 30 deliveries before he was cleaned up by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Klaasen shows his class
However, the wicket of Bavuma did not have an effect on South Africa's run chase. Klaasen got to his half-century in the 14th over from 32 deliveries. With in-form David Miller on the other end, Klaasen got the license to go after Chahal. After Miller hit the leg-spinner for a six, Klaasen hit two more to make it a 23-run over and make the run chase easy.
The 30-year-old scored 81 runs from 45 deliveries including seven fours and five sixes. He got out in the 17th over in an attempt to finish off the match in style. Harshal Patel got his wicket. Klaasen got a place in the side after Quinton de Kock got injured. He replaced Tristan Stubbs in the side.
Bhuvneshwar returned to bowl his final over and got the wicket of Wayne Parnell. He finished with four wickets for 13 runs. But it did not have an impact on the outcome of the game as Miller kept his cool and got the Proteas over the line with his 15-ball 20.
Kishan dominates
Ruturaj Gaikwad got out early in the innings. Gaikwad played a loose shot straight to the point fielder off Kagiso Rabada's bowling. Ishan Kishan turned out to be the standout performer. Kishan scored the majority of boundaries in the powerplay overs. The opener seemed to pick just where he left off in the previous match. However, Nortje got his wicket with the short ball. The southpaw scored 34 runs from 21 deliveries including two fours and three sixes.
Middle-order problem
Shreyas Iyer decided to play the anchor role as he lacked support from the middle-order batters. Skipper Rishabh Pant (5) and Hardik Pandya (9) got out for single-digit scores. Promoting Axar up the order did not help either and he got bowled by Nortje for 10 runs.
Karthik finishes well
Dinesh Karthik struggled early at the crease but made up for it in the slog overs. The finisher who made his comeback into the squad after three years remained unbeaten for 30 off 21 deliveries, helping India post a fighting total of 148/5. Harshal remained unbeaten on the other end with 12 runs from nine deliveries.
While Nortje took a couple of wickets for South Africa, Rabada was the most economical as he conceded just 15 runs from his four overs. Parnell was economical too with the new ball.
