After India’s thumping win in the 1st T20I match in Durban, the focus shifts to Gqeberha. Suryakumar Yadav’s team will look to maintain their momentum after a clinical performance, while the South African side will hope for a turnaround.
The match is likely to be affected by rain on Sunday, 10 November, as showers are expected in the match hours. The first T20I was also played under cloudy conditions, but that did not aid South Africa’s pace battery in Durban. Sanju Samson took the attack to the opposition and dictated terms to the South African bowling after the visitors were sent to bat first.
The conditions could be more conducive to fast bowling in the 2nd T20I match as there are 84 per cent chances of rain in the afternoon.
In the tour of 2023, India played 2 matches at Gqeberha – one ODI and one T20I, both of which they lost under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav. In the T20I game, spinner Tabraiz Shamsi bowled a stunning spell of 1/18, helping South Africa contain India to 180/7 in 19.3 overs after rain lashed out.
SA vs IND, 1st T20I: Full Scorecard
In the second innings, South Africa were able to stay ahead of the DLS total after a strong start from Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke and Aiden Markram.
The match conditions could be similar for this game as well, as rain is expected to hit in the afternoon and at night.
Given Tabraiz Shami’s brilliance in the previous game, focus will be on Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi, who dominated the South African batting line-up. The spin-bowling duo were so good in the first T20I that former cricketer Mark Boucher quipped on Jio Cinema that Bishnoi-Varun made it look like men vs boys against the South Africa batters on November 8.
“Varun Chakravarthy has come on leaps and bounds. The way that he bowled tonight with Bishnoi, what a great partnership that the two of them had in the middle of there. Klaasen looked out of sync, to be honest, he didn’t look like he was in good form at all,” Boucher said about Varun Chakravarthy.
“They were never really in with a shout, always looked like something that gonna happen, something that was gonna give. I think they bowled nine balls for three runs at some stage to build up pressure. They really made it almost look like men against boys to be fair,” the former South Africa keeper lauded the India spinners.
