Durban, Nov 11: Leg-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy’s career-best 5 for 17 went in vain as India suffered a three-wicket loss to South Africa in the second T20I here on Sunday.
The 33-year-old’s stunning performance helped India reduce SA to 66 for 6 while chasing 125 but Tristan Stubbs (47) and Gerald Coetzee (19) took the hosts home in 19 overs, ending India’s 11-match winning streak.
Earlier, India struggled with the bat, posting just 124 for six after being put in to bat. They lost three quick wickets, falling to 15/3 within four overs.
Axar Patel (27) steadied the innings, partnering with Tilak Varma (20) and Hardik Pandya (39). Despite the top-order failure, Pandya’s late flourish ensured India set a more competitive total.
Aiden Markram, South Africa captain, said, I thought we bowled really well, some really good plans and our bowlers executed really well. From the batting point of view, you want to break the back of the chase at the mid-way stage but it didn’t work out today. Sometimes when you lose wickets in a cluster it doesn’t look pretty. We need to take it on the chin, we are definitely going to keep our brand of cricket going. (On the blow to his helmet and on-field bruise) I’m fine, so far so good. (On Stubbs and Coetzee) They are coming in after a break, nice to see the fire in their bellies. Really proud of course, the role Simelane and Peter played with the ball was massive. To all the guys on the younger side, they inspired the older guys. We need to take one game at at time. We won this game to level the series and we are happy.
Suryakumar Yadav, India captain, You always have to back whatever total you get. Of course, in a T20 game you don’t want to get 125 or 140 but I’m proud of the way our boys bowled. (On Varun Chakaravarthy’s 5-fer) In a T20 game someone getting a 5-fer defending 125 and in this situation, it’s incredible. He worked really hard on his game and he has been waiting for this stage, and everyone enjoyed it. Brilliant performance from him. Two games to go, a lot of entertainment left and it will be fun at Jo’burg.
Tristan Stubbs, Player of the Match, said, The run rate never got away from us. Coetzee came in and played that innings in the end and we got over the line. He (Coetzee) walked in and said we can win this. It was always two hits away being back to run-a-ball. I just tried to breathe. It’s my mom’s birthday so there were 20-30 people who came to watch the game. This is my favourite place to play cricket. I was nervous, so I was trying to control by breathing.