India vs South Africa Highlights, 2nd T20: Stubbs, Coetzee guide Proteas to thrilling win

Tristan Stubbs remains unbeaten on 47 off 41 balls, smashing Arshdeep Singh for four boundaries in the penultimate over – the third one levelling the scores and the next one being the winning four! South Africa make a superb recovery after being reduced to 86/7 to chase the 125-run target down with an over to spare!

Stubbs, however, would have found the job of finishing the game for the hosts a lot tougher had it not been for Gerald Coetzee smashing Arshdeep for a mighty six and Avesh Khan for back-to-back fours and remaining unbeaten on 19 off 9! Had it not been for that handy knock that came against the run-of-play, India might have gone 2-0 up at St George’s Park!

Gerald Coetzee had highlighted his handy batting skills with a knock of 23 off 11 in Durban to go with his three-for, and could ruin the evening for Varun Chakravarthy and the rest of the Indians tonight! After hammering a full delivery from Arshdeep outside off for a maximum, Stubbs adds to the left-arm pacer’s frustration with a boundary off the final delivery, redirecting a full toss through extra cover.

Coetzee then brings the equation down to virtually run-a-ball by smacking Avesh Khan for back-to-back fours in the following over. 24 runs from the last two overs! The crowd at St George’s Park remained lively with the brass band performing throughout the evening, and have only become livelier after the flurry of boundaries! SA 112/7; need 13 off 12

For a second game in a row, Klaasen falls to the wily leg-spinner after being held back by the Proteas as he holes out to Rinku Singh at long off while trying to smash a full delivery outside off for a maximum! Things go from bad to worse for the Proteas as David Miller gets his off stump knocked over first ball after getting foxed by a googly to depart for a golden duck!

Andile Simelane walks in next and survives the hat-trick ball. Chakravarthy bowls three dots in a row to sign off with outstanding figures of 5/17 from four! SA 67/6 after 13; need 58 off 42

Hendricks collects his third four with an inside out drive over extra cover in the third delivery of the eighth over. The opening batter, however, perishes the very next ball as another well-executed googly from Chakravarthy breaches his defence and clips the leg stump.

Marco Jansen joins Stubbs at the centre with the Proteas suddenly in a spot of bother, and the Indians appeal for a catch down the leg side first ball. SKY goes for the review after the umpire signals a wide, and at the very least manages to overturn the extra. SA 45/3 after 8

Rickelton had collected his second boundary at the start of the third over, glancing at a wayward ball from Arshdeep’s that going down leg and redirecting it towards the fine leg fence. Tries to collect another in the penultimate delivery of the over, and this time gets foxed by a slower ball from the left-arm pacer, hitting it straight to Rinku Singh at deep backward square leg.

With that, Arshdeep goes level with Jasprit Bumrah’s tally of 89 T20I wickets, and is currently third on the list of leading Indian bowlers in the format. SA 22/1 after 3

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A stunner of a catch sends Tilak Varma back to the pavilion 😳

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Jansen bowls out the final over with Pandya on strike for the first delivery. Starts with a dot. Pandya looks to steer a low full toss down the ground in the following delivery, and is dropped by Markram at mid off, with the South African captain appearing to have hurt himself in the process. That is followed by another dot as Pandya turns down a single after steering the ball towards sweeper cover.

Pandya’s dropped again in the fourth over, this time Coetzee putting down a catch at third man after a top-edge by Pandya, who sets off for a brace. Pandya collects another double in the penultimate delivery after guiding the ball towards deep midwicket and signs off with a boundary off the final ball of the innings, getting a thick outside edge that beats the keeper as well as Coetzee at third man. IND 124/6 after 20 overs!

Seven runs off Maharaj’s second over including the boundary. Leg-spinner Nqabayomzi Peter is then introduced in the following over, and starts off with four leg byes. Later in the over, Axar goes for an inside-out drive over extra cover to collect his fourth four and move to 25.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, has joined Axar at the centre, and the Men in Blue will be hopeful of the former captain steering them past 160 from here with a big knock. IND 62/4 after 10 overs

Abhishek starts off with a boundary, pulling a length ball through midwicket, and overturns a successful caught-behind appeal by Coetzee and the Proteas three balls later after replays show there was no contact between his glove/bat and the ball.

Coetzee, however, gets his wicket in the penultimate delivery of the over with another short ball that isn’t exactly a bouncer, in which Abhishek gets a thick top-edge while attempting a pull that sends the ball high up in the air. Jansen settles under the ball nearly fine leg and grabs the ball safely and out come Coetzee’s Steyn-like celebrations! IND 6/2 in 2 overs

India: Sanju Samson(wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Avesh Khan

South Africa: Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter

Shaun Pollock: It’s overcast, chance of rain and a stiff breeze coming through. This surface has got a little more grass cover. It’s very hard and will carry through nicely.

Ashwell Prince: Grass cover and rain has affected conditions. Pitch looks good, solid and firm. Not much support for spin. It looks a very good pitch on the eye. Batters will enjoy it, seam bowlers will enjoy it. With rain around, maybe bowl first.

Sanju Samson appears to have made the opener’s slot his own after smashing back-to-back centuries in the shortest format for India, the second one coming in the first T20I against South Africa in Durban on Friday. Samson, however, appears to have finally solidified his place in the side at the age of 29 after years of uncertainty, despite superb numbers in the IPL and domestic cricket.

After his match-winning knock in Durban, Samson revealed how captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir’s support helped him turn things around and finally live up to his true potential in the international arena.

Read: ‘Agla 7 match tera hai’: How SKY, GG’s support helped Samson script a turnaround