South African team must be celebrating their six wickets win in the second T20I after getting thrashed at the hands of Indian cricket team in the six-match One day International (ODI) series 5-1 and losing the opening T20 International.
With their win, Proteas squad have levelled the series 1-1. The third and final T20I match of the tournament will be played in Cape Town on 24th November.
The second T20I belonged to batsmen. Here are the winners and losers (batsman) from both the team in the second T20I:
Winners:
1- Heinrich Klaasen
If I would have to name one player who stole the match from India’s grip, it was South African batsman Heinrich Klaasen. Klaasen scored 69 runs off 30 balls with a strike rate of 230. In his innings, Heinrich hit seven maximum and three boundaries.
2- Manish Pandey
Though India lost the match by six-wickets, Manish Pandey did everything with the bat to be at the number two spot here.
After the early dismissal of India’s top order, Manish Pandey, along with MS Dhoni, took the charge of Indian innings and scored 79 runs off 48 deliveries with a strike rate of 164.58.
3- JP Duminy
The stand-in South African skipper JP Duminy seemed totally out of form in the ODI series as well as in the first T20I. However, in the second T20I, Duminy returned to his form and led his side to win the match by six wickets.
Duminy scored unbeaten 64 off just 40 deliveries with a strike rate of 160 at Centurion. In his innings, he hit three sixes and four boundaries.
4- MS Dhoni
The former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s selection in India T20I squad had raised many eyebrows. The way he batted on Wednesday should shut his critics. There are high chances that people will not doubt his position in the squad anymore.
Dhoni came to bat at number five and scored 52 runs off 28 balls with a strike rate of 185.71.
Losers:
1- Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma who is also called ‘Hitman’ due to his ability to hit big shots, once again failed to impress his audience as he was sent back by Jr Dala for a duck.
2-Virat Kohli
Indian skipper Virat Kohli who had shattered South Africa’s bowling line-up with his performance in the recently concluded six-match ODI series was not able to score big at the Centurion. Virat was sent back to the stands by Dala at a score of 1 runs.
3-JJ Smuts
South African opener Jon-Jon Smuts failed to impress the fans as he scored two runs off nine deliveries.
4-David Miller
The explosive Proteas batsman is also in the loser list as he was not able to produce much for his team with the bat. Miller scored 5 runs before getting dismissed by Hardik Pandya.