2nd ODI: South Africa beat India by 7 seven wickets, win series 2-0

A young and
transitional South Africa side handed India a comprehensive seven-wicket
defeat in the second ODI to clinch the three-match ODI series 2-0 on Friday,
with the third and final ODI yet to be played in Cape Town on January 23.  South Africa won the first ODI by 31 runs.

Also Read: 2nd ODI: Rishabh Pant scores 85 as India set 288 runs target for South Africa

On a flat
Boland Park deck in Paarl, chasing down a modest 288 runs target, seasoned opener
Quinton de Kock smashed 78 off 66 balls while his partner Janneman Malan, an
emerging star in the South African ranks, played the anchor’s role, scoring 91
off 108 balls. The opening pair shared a 132-run partnership which laid the
foundation of South Africa’s chase, which they completed with 11 balls in hand.

As South
Africa took 2-0 decisive lead, KL Rahul’s captaincy ambitions and head coach
Rahul Dravid’s wish to see him being anointed in the long run, however,
suffered a rude jolt following back-to-back defeats in 50-over games on a
track, which was more Indian than South African in nature.

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India’s
archaic approach, a very ’90s safety-first mindset, hurt the team, which has
been the case for a while now in the white-ball format.

A tour that
started with a great Test win at the Centurion is now in tatters and the Indian
contingent would be looking to board the charter flight back home on Monday
after the inconsequential third ODI at the Newlands, which would be a spicier
track compared to the one at Boland Park.

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Unresolved batting fiasco hurt India

The
batting, save Rishabh Pant’s cavalier style, was too defensive starting with
skipper Rahul, whose 55 off 79 balls was an innings of a bygone era, which
cannot align with the fearless cricket that teams want to associate with now.

The match
slipped away from India’s grip during their innings once Pant was gone as the
others simply failed to get going when the ball didn’t come on to the bat and
it was not a track that offered firm and even bounces.

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It’s not a
new malaise to plague Indian cricket but what should be worrying is that
nothing has been done to address the issues.

Leaky bowlers

A veteran
like Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8-0-67-0) was swept as well as pulled for sixes by De
Kock while Malan would come down the track to hit him through the covers
signalling that his early 130 kmph speed, with lack of variations, was simply
not working.

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For Shardul
Thakur (40 not out and 5.1-0-36-0), the quality batting show won’t save him if
he doesn’t curtail the number of bad balls that he is bowling per spell.

And
Ravichandran Ashwin (10-1-68-0)’s second coming in white-ball cricket might end
in a whimper even before it gathers enough wind to sail through.

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Yuzvendra
Chahal (10-0-47-1) tried his best but his confidence, after being
unceremoniously dumped from the T20 World Cup final squad, has been in tatters.

Venkatesh
Iyer (22 off 33 balls and 5-0-28-0) is still a work in progress and his
fast-tracking in the limited-overs set-up is less of pragmatism and more
desperation to find a fresh version of injury-plagued Hardik Pandya.

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Iyer might
develop into a good cricketer but he is far from a finished product and maybe
some time away from being a success at the international level in all
conditions.

As of now,
he is not a natural No.6, who can be a finisher like Pandya was in his best
days before the injury.

Also Read: Virat Kohli the batter in focus as India take on SA in 3-match ODI series

Pant shone; Shreyas, Ventakesh failed

Had Pant
not played the role of an enforcer to perfection, even a target of 288 wouldn’t
have been possible. And this was after it seemed India would score close to 315
when he was having a steady stand of 115 with his skipper.

But their
dismissals in quick succession saw Proteas make a comeback on a Boland Park
strip where stroke-making wasn’t an easy proposition for a new batter.

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The two
Iyers — Shreyas (11 off 14 balls) and Venkatesh (22 off 33 balls) found it a
real struggle to get going with the ball not coming onto the bat as the
momentum completely shifted.