Ranchi: Young guns Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan powered India to a series-levelling seven-wicket victory in the second ODI against South Africa here on Sunday evening.
It will be winner-take-all in the final match at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla on October 11.
Chasing 279 to win, India lost openers Shikhar Dhawan (13) and Shubman Gill (28) with the total on 48 in 9 overs.
Iyer then joined Kishan and the right-left combination took the game away from the Proteas after taking a few overs to get used to the pitch.
Local boy Kishan missed out on what would have been a deserved century, but his 93 off just 84 balls (4 fours, 7 sixes) deflated the South African attack.
Iyer went on to complete his 100 and stayed till the end to remain unbeaten on 113 off 111 balls (15 fours). The duo added a match-winning 161 runs for the third wicket, before Sanju Samson came in and helped Iyer take the team over the line with 4.1 overs to spare.
South Africa’s stand-in skipper Keshav Maharaj earlier won the toss and chose to bat first. They also lost both openers – Quinton de Kock and Janneman Malan – within the 10th over before the third-wicket partnership gave them hope of a big total.
Aiden Markram (79) and Reeza Hendricks (74) added 129 runs, before the home team pulled things back. Led by Mohammad Siraj (3/38 in 10 overs), the Indian bowlers conceded just 63 rns in the final 12 overs.
Brief scores: South Africa 278/7 in 50 overs (Aiden Markram 79, Reeza Hendricks 74; Mohammad Siraj 3/38). India 282/3 in 45.5 overs (Shreyas Iyer 113*, Ishan Kishan 93).
Result: India won by 7 wickets.
Series: 1-1.
Final match: October 11, Delhi.
