 "IND vs SA: Varun Chakravarthy stamps his authority on South Africa, nearly helps India win two-in-two")
Two days after they were thoroughly outplayed in Durban, South Africa fought back at Gqeberha’s St George’s Park in style to level the four-match T20I series against India with two games to go.
The Proteas were blown away by one Sanju Samson at Kingsmead on Friday before getting strangulated by spin twins Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi, resulting in a comprehensive 61-run defeat .
Two days later, South African skipper Aiden Markram opted to bowl once again, this time in slightly overcast conditions and on a grassy wicket, and supporters of the Indian team would have been hopeful of an encore from Samson and the rest of the batting order.
South Africa, however, came up with a response that could not have been more contrasting to that of Durban. where the Indians managed to cross 200 despite a collapse late in their innings before dominating the opposition batter from ball one in the chase.
Tristan Stubbs led the way with an unbeaten 47 off 41 deliveries, helping the South Africans pull off a thrilling victory in Gqeberha with three wickets and an over to spare after a disciplined performance from the bowlers helped restrict India to a modest total of 124/6.
As It Happened | South Africa defeat India by 3 wickets in 2nd T20I in Gqeberha, level series 1-1
The series-leveling victory however, would have come a lot easier for South Africa had it not been for Chakravarthy’s brilliance, which led to the leg-spinner collecting his maiden five-wicket haul for India.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsChakravarthy 2.0 continues to shine bright
Chakravarthy has been on a roll this year, and is currently burning brighter than ever. After playing starring roles in Kolkata Knight Riders and Dindigul Dragons’ triumphs in the IPL and TNPL respectively, the architect-turned-spinner made a heroic comeback to the Indian side after three years by collecting 5/50 from eight overs across the first two T20Is against Bangladesh.
Chakravarthy’s impressive performance against the Tigers at home though, pales in comparison to his exploits in South Africa, where he has collected eight wickets in the first two matches at an outstanding average of 5.25, including 5/17 on Sunday. The 31-year-old is leading the wicket-takers’ list by a comfortable margin, having collected twice as many wickets as Ravi Bishnoi and Gerald Coetzee, the next best bowlers in the list with four wickets each.
Stats | Varun Chakravarthy achieves a first; South Africa end India’s winning streak
If Samson has virtually cemented his place at the top of the T20I batting order with consecutive centuries, Chakravarthy has pretty much done the same in the spin department and filled the Ravindra Jadeja-sized hole after the latter retired along with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after the T20 World Cup triumph.
It was a joint-effort from Chakravarthy and Bishnoi that strangled the South African batters in Durban on Friday. At St George’s Park however, it was a one-man show as far as the Indian bowling department was concerned, which was in complete contrast to how the Proteas bowlers performed – five out six bowlers collecting a wicket and none of them going at seven runs an over or more.
South Africa were starting to rebuild after Arshdeep Singh removed Ryan Rickelton in the third over when Chakravarthy struck in his second delivery of the day by castling Aiden Markram, beating the South African skipper’s wild heave with a well-disguised googly. From thereon, it was a Varun Chakravarthy show right through the middle overs as the leg-spinner struck in each of his four overs.
After getting rid of Markram in the final over of the powerplay, Chakravarthy dealt a major blow to South Africa’s hopes by castling Reeza Hendricks, who appeared fairly set on 24 after collecting three fours and six, with a fairly similar delivery. He proved just as effective while bowling from a different end by dismissing Marco Jansen right after the halfway mark.
And the Proteas’ hopes were virtually over after Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller departed in successive deliveries in Chakravarthy’s final over. It was the second time in as many matches that the leggie got rid of the two middle-order stars in the same over in this series.
Variations within the wrong ‘uns
Chakravarthy made good use of the googly, which accounted for four out of his five wickets on Sunday with the full delivery outside off that got rid of Klaasen being the only one that turned away from the right-hander.
It was also the manner in which he executed the wrong ‘uns that allowed him to run through the South African batting order. Chakravarthy foxed Markram with one that was bowled slightly slower than usual, and responded to getting hit for a boundary by Hendricks by shortening his length.
Against Jansen, it was a tossed up delivery that landed on a good length and appeared to have sneaked through Jansen’s defence a bit quicker than he would have expected. And in the Miller dismissal that took place right after Klaasen’s, he made good use of the round-the-wicket angle to the left-hander, got the ball to straighten after landing outside off, getting enough away-movement for it to beat the outside edge and knock the stump over at the same time.
A maiden 5 wicket haul for India's new spin sensation! 😍
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) November 10, 2024
Take a bow, Varun Chakaravarthy 🙌
Watch the exciting 2nd #SAvIND T20I LIVE on #JioCinema, #Sports18 & #ColorsCineplex 👈#JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/t5hpMC6OAJ
Chakravarthy certainly isn’t the first spinner to produce a match-winning performance in South Africa. Kuldeep Yadav had registered identical figures in Johannesburg last December, and he shares the second spot in the list of best T20I bowling figures by Indian spinners. Chakravarthy, however, bamboozled the South Africans on a wicket that wasn’t expected to provide much assistance to the spinners.
Sure Keshav Maharaj bowled four tidy overs in which he gave away 24 runs while Markram and Nqabayomzi Peter collected a wicket each, the former in his only over of the evening.
Chakravarthy, however, wasn’t content with making an impact with a couple of wickets or three. He stamped his authority on the opposition with his guile and ensured that he remains central to Markram and Co’s planning for the remainder of the series.
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