SA vs IND: South Africa (212/2) beat India (211) by 8 wickets in the 2nd ODI to level the 3-match series 101 in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
South Africa bounced back in the ODI series against India by registering a 9-wicket win in the 2nd match at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
Chasing a modest 212 for victory, the Proteas rode on opener Tony de Zorzi’s maiden ODI hundred and a half-century from Reeza Hendricks to gun down the target in just 42.3 overs.
Tony de Zorzi shines for the Proteas
Zorzi finished on a career-best 119* off 122 balls with nine fours and five sixes while Hendricks made 52 off 81 balls with seven boundaries during his knock. Rossi van Der Dussen also contributed with 36 to the winning cause.
Zorzi and Hendricks were involved in an opening partnership worth 130 which put India on the backfoot and made it nearly impossible for the visitors to come back in the match. Zorzi then added another 71 with van Der Dussen to take the game completely away from Team India.
Arshdeep Singh and Rinku Singh were the lone Indian wicket takers while the rest all leaked runs which led to the Men in Blue’s downfall.
#ArshdeepSingh does the job again for 🇮🇳 with finding a much-needed breakthrough!
How many more wickets will the talented pacer pick? 🤔
Tune-in to the 2nd #SAvIND ODI
LIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/nNMW05PE47— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 19, 2023
Visitors suffer batting failure
But the main reason behind the defeat was India’s failure to put up a challenging score on the board after the batters failed in the first innings of the match.
Two-ODI-old Sri Sudharsan scored back-to-back fifties while captain KL Rahul also hit a half-century but the rest were all dismissed below 18 or less runs.
The Proteas bowling attack was led by Beuran Hendricks and Keshav Maharaj, both of whom grabbed a couple of wickets each while Lizaad Williams and captain Aidan Markham got one each.
Sai Sudharsan impresses again
Sudharsan’s second fifty in succession was the lone bright spot for India in this match even. The left-handed opener looked like he was batting on a different pitch as he showcased his full range of shots to enthrall the crowd at the venue.
Sudharsan became only the second Indian batter after Navjot Singh Sidhu (73 & 75) to score back-to-back fifties in his first two ODI games.