Varun heroics in vain as South Africa overcome tricky chase to level T20I series 1-1

 

Hope was high, but it ended in disappointment as India lost to South Africa by three wickets in the second T20 match. At one point, Varun Chakravarthy's bowling had India looking like they might secure a 2-0 lead. However, in the end, Tristan Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee turned the game around, allowing South Africa to level the series. Batting first, India could only set a target of 124, which South Africa chased down with seven wickets in hand. The four-match series now stands at 1-1.

The skies over Gqeberha were cloudy even before the match began, and the pitch had some grass. Expert Shaun Pollock pointed out that pacers would have the advantage early on, with the pitch likely to slow down gradually. South African captain Aiden Markram opted to bowl first, which proved to be the right decision as both teams struggled with batting. The Indian batsmen found it difficult to play freely against South Africa's bowlers, being limited to singles and losing wickets in the process. South Africa also faced challenges while chasing, though Coetzee seemed to play on a different pitch, confidently leading his team to victory. Stubbs, at the other end, held his ground and deserves praise for seeing his team through.

In the previous match against South Africa, Varun delivered his career-best bowling performance. On Sunday, he exceeded even that, taking five wickets in a T20 match for the first time. From his second ball, he dismissed Markram (3) clean bowled , and as the game went on, Varun’s bowling only sharpened. Maintaining a consistent line, he used googlies effectively, troubling the Proteas batsmen. He dismissed Reza Hendricks (24), Marco Jansen (7), Heinrich Klaasen (2) , and David Miller(0)  in succession and all except Klaasen bowled . He had a chance for a hat-trick after Miller's dismissal but couldn't capitalize on it. South Africa also adopted a strange decision sending Jansen ahead of Klaasen and that decision nearly backfired.  However Stubbs (47*) held his ground and found an able partner in Coetzee (19* off  who hit a massive 103 metre six and followed up with a few boundaries against the pacers to carry South Africa home and levelled the series . Surya's decision to bowl pace in the last 3 overs despite overs left for Bishnoi & Axar  backfired . 

Earlier after scoring back-to-back centuries in T20, Sanju Samson (0)  had raised expectations, but he faltered again. The Indian opener couldn’t even get off the mark, getting dismissed on the third ball. Trying to play a drive off Jansen on the leg stump, he missed the connection, and the ball went on to hit the stumps. Samson needs to guard against a streak of failures, as he has often shown promise but failed to deliver consistently.

South Africa's fielders displayed excellent skills throughout India's innings, with someone always there to cover the ball. Their fielding efforts likely saved at least 30 runs. Tilak Varma (20) attempted a shot over cover off Markram, only to be caught in an impressive one-handed leap by Miller. On a challenging pitch for run-scoring, South Africa’s sharp fielding made India’s task even harder, resulting in several players getting out while attempting risky shots. However, Coetzee and Markram did drop catches in the final overs.

Though India’s openers failed, the middle-order batsmen couldn’t fill the gap either. Samson (0) and Abhishek Sharma (4)  returned to the pavilion with India at just five runs. Abhishek continues his serial failures and once again falls to a short ball by a fast bowler.   In such a situation, Surya Kumar Yadav (4)  and Tilak Varma needed to play with maturity, but neither could. Tilak fell to a brilliant catch, yet Surya Kumar’s dismissal was avoidable. Attempting to drive a well-directed ball from Andile Simelane toward mid-on, he missed the ball entirely, hitting his pad instead. Axar Patel, promoted up the order, managed a decent 27 off 21 balls but his unfortunate run out at bowlers end  dismissal set India back again before. At the end Hardik(35) late hitting took India to 124/6 after another timid show from Rinku Singh who failed to force the pace again.