2nd T20I: Klaasen leads South Africa’s win over India

Heinrich Klaasen, who replaced an injured Quinton de Kock in South Africa’s playing 11, scored his fourth T20I century to guide the visitors to a four-wicket win over India at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Temba Bavuma and co lead the five-match series 2-0. 

Klaasen came into bat when South Africa were 29/3 inside the powerplay. The batter knocked down a few singles before attacking the Indian bowlers, especially the spinners. The 30-year-old finished with 81 runs in 46 balls with the help of seven boundaries and five maximums. The Proteas chased down India’s 149-run target with 10 balls to spare. David Miller was unbeaten at 20 runs in 15 balls. 

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For India, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers. The seamer finished with four wickets, giving 13 runs in his four overs. Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel took a wicket each. 

“It was a great win. It was a little bit of a tricky wicket as we all knew, we weren’t in trouble but they bowled really well upfront in the first 10 overs, Klaasy’s knock was phenomenal and one of the best I have seen. The conditions in which he played and to come out and do what he did made it easy for us at the back end. It was about playing your game and not worrying about the wicket, if it is keeping low it gets in your head as a batter, so you are not quite sure whether to go forward or not, it was about looking to play straight,” David Miller said after the win. 

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In the first innings, Indian batters struggled and were contained to 148/6. Shreyas Iyer (40) was the top-scorer while Ishan Kishan provided some early sparks (21-ball 34) but the hosts lost the momentum in the middle-overs on a two-paced track.

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Brief Scores: India 148/6 (Shreyas Iyer 40, Dinesh Karthik 30 not out, Ishan Kishan 34, Anrich Nortje 2/36, Kagiso Rabada 1/15).

South Africa 149/2 in 18.2 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 81, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/13).