India defeats South Africa in the 2nd T20I
South Africa vs India:
South Africa: 149/5
India: 151/3 (19/20 overs, target 150)
India won the match by 7 wickets with 6 balls remaining.
The 1st T20I of South Africa’s tour of India got abandoned due to rain at Dharamsala. India’s captain, Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to field first for their 2nd T20I against South Africa. South Africa entered the game with 3 T20I debutants; the names of the debutants are Temba Bavuma, Bjorn Fortuin, and Anrich Nortje.
Reeza Hendricks came to bat with South Africa’s captain and wicketkeeper-batsman, Quinton de Kock. Reeza Hendricks (6 off 11) lost his wicket to Deepak Chahar of India in the 4th over of the match.
South Africa’s captain, Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma controlled the flow of the game as they made a stand of 57 runs off 45 balls for the 2nd wicket before Temba Bavuma also lost his wicket to India’s Deepak Chahar.
South Africa’s skipper and wicketkeeper-batsman, Quinton de Kock scored 52 runs off 37 balls by hitting 8 fours all over the ground. The Debutant Temba Bavuma supported his captain by scoring 49 runs off 43 balls with the help of 3 fours and a six but unfortunately he missed his half-century by just a run.
After India took the wicket of Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma, the match started to turn into India’s favor as none of the other batsmen from South Africa’s side were able to impress. India was able to stop South Africa to a score of 149/5. Deepak Chahar took 2 wickets at the cost of 22 runs for India while India’s Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, and Hardik Pandya took 1 wicket each.
India came to bat, Virat Kohli made records:
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan opened from India’s side. Rohit Sharma lost his wicket early after scoring just 12 runs off 12 balls by hitting 2 sixes but Shikhar Dhawan and India’s Captain Virat Kohli took matters into their own hands as they made a stand of 61 runs off 47 balls in India’s favor.
Shikhar Dhawan scored 40 runs off 31 balls by hitting 4 fours and a six before he lost his wicket to Tabraiz Shamsi. Virat Kohli played an amazing inning as he went undefeated after scoring 72 runs off 52 balls by hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes, making sure India reaches the target of 150 without any difficulty.
India won the match by scoring 151/3 in just 19 overs with 6 balls remaining. Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi and the debutant Bjorn Fortuin took 1 wicket each for South Africa.
India’s captain Virat Kohli received the award of the Player of the Match. Virat Kohli now holds the record of receiving a joint second-highest number of “player of the match” awards with 11 awards attached to his name. Virat Kohli of India shares this record with Shahid Afridi of Pakistan who also received 11 “player of the match awards” over his career. The only player that has received more “player of the match” awards is Mohammad Nabi of Afghanistan with 12 awards under his name.
After Virat Kohli’s undefeated 72 runs off 52 balls to push India towards victory against South Africa, Virat Kohli now holds the record of being the only player having a 50plus batting average in all three formats of the game.
It is without a doubt that Virat Kohli of India is one of the best players of cricket in the world. We look forward to seeing him achieve even more greatness on and off the ground.
