Guwahati: Team India are on a roll ahead of the ensuing T20 World Cup.
After beating Australia 2-1, Rohit Sharma’s men took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series against South Africa with a 16-run win in a high-scoring contest here on Sunday night.
Chasing India’s mammoth total of 237/3, South Africa made a match of it after slumping to 47/3 in the seventh over. David Miller’s brutal onslaught gave India a fright as the left-hander smashed an unbeaten 106 off just 47 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes.
Opener Quinton de Kock also remained unbeaten (69 off 48 balls), but he couldn’t match Miller’s heroics.
Earlier, India posted their fourth-best total in T20Is.
After KL Rahul (57 off 28 balls, 5×4, 4×6) and skipper Rohit Sharma (43 off 37) gave the home team a rollicking start with a 96-run opening partnership in 9.5 overs, the red-hot Suryakumar Yadav once again took centrestage with a mind-boggling knock. The right-hander played some typically incredible shots all round the wicket to race to 61 off 22 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes.
Both Rahul and Suryakumar had hit half-centuries in the first game of the series as well, with India winning by 8 wickets.,
Virat Kohli played his part as well, remaining unbeaten with 49 off 28 balls.
Brief scores: India 237/3 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 61, KL Rahul 57, Virat Kohli 49*, Rohit Sharma 43; Keshav Maharaj 2/23). South Africa 221/3 in 20 overs (David Miller 106*, Quinton de Kock 69*).
Result: India won by 16 runs.
Series: India lead 2-0.