Uphill task for South Africa against rampant India

Overview

South Africa vs IndiaSuperSport Park, Centurion
2nd T20I
Wednesday 21 February; 18:00 local time, 16:00 GMT

The first Twenty20 International of the three-game series went the way the one-day internationals did, with India pulling off a 28-run win in Johannesburg.

South Africa have missed key players for a variety of reasons at different points of the limited-overs exchanges, and they have missed winning the key moments, part of the reason why they lost the ODIs 5-1 and are now 1-0 down in the T20Is. There is a fair bit of inexperience in their ranks. Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock picked up injuries in the ODIs and then a host of regulars were rested for the T20Is because of the upcoming Test series against Australia.

AB de Villiers was one of the premier players who was picked in the T20I squad, but he has since been rested to allow his injured left knee to recover. As a result of all this, JP Duminy, David Miller and Chris Morris are the only big names in that line-up.

There is a fair bit of talent, though. Reeza Hendricks grabbed his chance at the top of the order in the first game with a 50-ball 70 in South Africa’s unsuccessful chase of 204, Farhaan Behardien chipped in with a 27-ball 39 during an 81-run stand with Hendricks, and Junior Dala and Tabraiz Shamsi both picked up wickets.

None of them, however, did much to threaten the Indians, either with the ball first or then in the chase. Rohit Sharma did the early hitting for India, scoring 21 of the 23 runs in the first-wicket stand with Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan then took over and batted till the 15th over, scoring 72 from 39 balls. The remaining Indian batsmen also scored quickly and then, when South Africa were chasing a big target, Bhuvneshwar Kumar made sure there were no escape routes with returns of 5/24.

Given the format, of course, predicting an outcome is close to impossible. In terms of form and personnel available, India look far superior. But when you have men like Duminy and Miller in a line-up, anything can happen. That’s what South Africa must be hoping for, one of their big guns to blaze away. From India’s point of view, that’s what they will look to prevent and back their high-performing players to keep up the good work.

Key players **David Miller (South Africa):**The middle-order batsman with a big reputation has been off the boil in the games against India. His five-ball nine in the first T2oI came on the back of an average run in the ODIs, where he crossed 20 thrice but failed to get past 40 even once. With Miller, though, numbers usually don’t matter, because a big knock is almost always around the corner. When it comes, it normally swings the match.
**Virat Kohli (India):**By his standards, the first T20I was mediocre – two fours and a six in a 20-ball 26. But he is in the form of his life, and because of his exploits in Test and ODI cricket, it’s almost forgotten that the India captain averages 52.15 at a strike rate of 137.73 in T20Is. He must be itching to make a statement, as he always does, and if he does, South Africa will be left with a lot of catching up to do.

ConditionsThunderstorms have been predicted on the day before the game as well as on match day, and that could put a dampener on proceedings. If we do get proper action, expect the run-scoring to be at a notch below what was on display in the first T20I. If there is moisture in the pitch and perhaps even overhead, the pace bowlers on either side could be in the game.

Squads South Africa: JP Duminy (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Junior Dala, Reeza Hendricks, Christiaan Jonker, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Chris Morris, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, JJ Smuts.
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat.