Cuttack: If it was Killer Miller the other night at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla, South Africa found another matchwinner in ‘super-sub’ Heinrich Klaasen at Barabati Stadium here on Sunday as they beat India by 4 wickets with 10 balls to spare for a 2-0 lead in the five-game series.
It was India’s second defeat in two T20Is against the Proteas at Cuttack.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Klaasen, playing only because Quinton de Kock missed the game with an injury, was in murderous mood on a pitch where all other batsmen struggled to score freely. Coming to the crease with South Africa in trouble after India posted a modest 148/6, Klaasen silenced the capacity crowd with 81 off 46 balls which included 5 towering sixes and 7 fours.
One had to feel for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whose quite brilliant returns of 4/13 in 4 overs went futile.
Bhuvi gave India just the kind of start they needed while defending a modest total, taking a wicket in each of his first three overs. The master of swing moved the ball both ways to rattle the stumps of Reeza Hendricks (4) and Rassie van der Dusssen (1), besides having Dwaine Pretorius (4) caught superbly in the deep by Avesh Khan.
At 29/3 in the 6th over, India looked to have bounced back strongly from an ordinary batting performance.
But then came Klaasen. Playing only because Quinton de Kock missed the game with an injury, the wicketkeeper-batsman produced an innings of class to take the match away from the home team. He first steadied the innings with a crucial 64-run partnership with skipper Temba Bavuma, who made a useful 35 off 30 balls.
Klaasen, sweating profusely and showing signs of exhaustion in extremely humid conditions at Cuttack, carried on to take the side to the brink of victory. Miller finished it off with a couple off part-time bowler Shreyas Iyer.
Earlier India, put into bat first after Rishabh Pant lost his second successive toss, were dealt an early blow when Ruturaj Gaekwad was sent back by Kagiso Rabada in the very first over.
Ishan Kishan, who played a stellar knock in the first T20I, took his time on a pitch where strokeplay wasn’t easy. The left-hander still found his range, striking 3 sixes and 2 fours in a 21-ball 34.
Shreyas struggled to find his free-flowing rhythm but stuck it out to score 40 off 35 balls.
Skipper Pant and Hardik Pandya couldn’t get going against the likes of Rabada and Wayne Parnell, and it was a late onslaught by Dinesh Karthik (30 not out off 21 balls, 3×4, 2×6) that gave India a fighting total.
Rabada and Parnell were the best bowlers, bagging a wicket each conceding just 15 and 23 runs, respectively. The other wicket-takers were Anrich Nortje (2/40), Dwaine Pretorius (1/40) and Keshav Maharaj (1/12).
Scores: India 148/6 in 20 overs. South Africa 149/6 in 18.2 overs.
Result: South Africa won by 4 wickets.
Series: South Africa lead 2-0, with 3 games left.
