KL Rahul led Team India have faced yet another defeat in the second ODI against South Africa. And, with this win, the Proteas registered a series win with one game in hand.
India won the toss and opted to bat first. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan got off to a steady start. While the former scored 55, Dhawan managed 29 as well. Virat Kohli got out for a duck whereas Rishabh Pant smashed a quickfire 85 off 71. Even Shardul Thakur also scored 40 and they put up 287 runs in their allotted 50 overs.
While chasing, South Africa openers – Janneman Malan (91) and Quinton de Kock (78) stitched a 132-run stand. Later, Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen added the rest of the runs and sealed the deal within 48.1 overs.
After the game, Quinton de Kock, who won the Player of the Match award, said: “Good to get out there and score some runs. Quite nice to be out there and bat some time. I was feeling good towards the end there. I think me and Janneman are both similar players and we have a great understanding. It’s been brief (speaking about fatherhood), only had a chance to spend couple of days along with her, but it’s been very chilled and I think it’s changed my view on life and kids in general. It’s been great.”
Temba Bavuma, South African captain said: “Very happy. We wanted to win the series and weren’t really expecting it to do after the 2 games. Lot of positives to take from our performances. Great to have him (QDK) in the side and he reminded us again why he is such a valuable player for us. As a team we have a lot of self-belief and confidence in our ability. We are not a team that prides itself on having superstars or relying on individual performances.
He added:
“We really try and put in a team effort. Coming into this series from the Test side, no-one had much faith in us and that gave us a lot of motivation. The performances in the last month have been really good. Spinners have done a splendid job. It’s a great thing. We pride ourselves on fast bowlers, but to see the spin bowlers winning the game for us that really makes us a side to reckon against. I enjoy captaincy and I enjoyed it since domestic cricket. I see it to something to forget about myself and try and see how I can inspire the other guys in the team. 3-0 sounds a lot better than 2-1.”
KL Rahul, the Indian captain said: “I think they are playing some really good cricket at home, we are making mistakes as well in the middle. It’s a good learning for us. We are a team that takes a lot of pride in winning, but good learning for us and hopefully we can grow. We are trying to get better at things we haven’t done well in the past. Partnerships, middle-order becomes crucial when we are entering a big tournament, wanna get better at bowling in the middle overs and these are the few things which are really obvious and right in front of us. We have spoken about it and it’s only up to us to get better, learn from it and find a way. It does feel like one of the wickets at home and I don’t think it was pitch where they could have chased down 280 that easily.
The stand-in captain added:
“Credit to them, they are showing us the importance of partnerships and putting pressure early on against the bowlers. The way Shikhar and Virat batted in the first game was very good, and today Rishabh batted, the way he managed the first 20 balls and then he took down the spinners. He is a really important member of the team and Shardul, too, showing us he can bat lower down and make a good contribution. Jasprit has been the standout bowler for us and Yuzi has been good today. The energy has been great, it’s been tough on the body staying in the bubbles. We love challenges and we have come short in the first 2 games, we will look ahead to the third game and try and win that one. Too early to say (about team changes for the next ODI).”
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