Klaasen carries Proteas to 2-0 lead despite Bhuvi haul
Indian batting never really took off and Klaasen’s 81 steered SA to a four-wicket win at Barabati Stadium on Sunday for a 2-0 series lead
CUTTACK: South Africa rode a classy and responsible 81 from Heinrich Klaasen to beat India by four wickets with 10 balls to spare and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20 series here on Sunday. Put into bat on a twopaced Barabati Stadium pitch, India kept losing wickets at vital junctures before Dinesh Karthik got them to 148 with two sixes in the last over.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/13) took three wickets in the powerplay phase to slow down South Africa but Klassen kept taking calculated risks to resurrect the innings with help from skipper Temba Bavuma and David Miller.
A silent enabler of South Africa’s successful chase was also India’s questionable bowling strategy that saw Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel not finishing their quota of overs despite averaging an excellent 5.66.
Not bowling out Kumar early was also probably not the smartest thing Rishabh Pant did as stand-in captain. In humid conditions, Kumar first made the ball nip back and induced opener Reeza Hendricks to play inside the line of the ball and be bowled. Then in the third over, Dwaine Pretorius was caught off-guard by a slower ball. Final over of the powerplay, Kumar set up Rassie van der Dussen with two straight deliveries before sneaking in an in-swinger that beat his bat.
Tightening the screws by conceding just seven runs in the next two overs, India had pushed the asking rate to nearly 10 but
Klaasen hit a four and six in the next over by Yuzvendra Chahal to keep it under check. From the ninth over till the 16th, South
Africa hit at least one four or six every over as India released the pressure by persisting with Hardik Pandya, Chahal and Axar
Patel despite ominous signs. Patel got hit for 14 runs in three balls in the 12th over, Pandya was clattered for a six and Chahal leaked two boundaries in the 13th over before he was carted for three sixes by Klaasen in the 16th over.
Needing 11 off 24 from there, South Africa ambled to the target after allowing Kumar his way in the 18th over. It would have been easier for South Africa had Karthik not decided to let loose in the last over.
On 17 off 18 till that delivery, Karthik first slapped Dwaine Pretorius over mid-off before launching a straight six over his head. Those two sixes capped a yield of 30 runs in the last two overs after India had looked down and out, having regularly
lost wickets in an innings where the highest partnership was 47 runs.
Chief facilitator of that second-wicket stand with Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan looked in fine fettle, whipping sixes going across the line till he met his match in a bouncer from Anrich Nortje. In rebuild mode, Iyer didn’t hit a boundary for 18 deliveries till Tabraiz Shamsi gave him the lengths to free his arms.
A six and a four off Shamsi followed by another six off Keshav Maharaj and Iyer quickly improved his strike rate, till Pretorius got him to edge a back of the length delivery in the 14th over. From there till those two sixes by Karthik, India looked nowhere close to finishing on a high.