5 Talking Points of India v South Africa, 2nd ODI, Indore

5 Talking Points of India v South Africa, 2nd ODI, Indore: The ODI series began with a disappointing defeat for the hosts at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur. With the pressure mounting on the hosts, especially MS Dhoni to get the right results, India needed to bounce back in style. In what turned out to be a rip-roaring and dramatic contest the hosts finally got off the mark in the ODI series. Here’s a look at 5 talking points from this encounter.

1. Captain’s Knock from MS under pressure:

Captain cool has faced a lot of criticism from all quarters for his inability to get the big hits when required. Winning the toss he rightly decided to bat on a surface which looked full of runs. Dhoni walked into bat with his team struggling at 82/3 at the end of 18 overs. India further slumped to 125/6 at the end of 30 overs. Mixing caution with aggression he reached his half-century in the 43rd over and from here on he cut loose. He formed valuable partnerships of 41 and 56 with Bhuvi and Bhajji respectively. The last over of the innings was bowled by Kagiso Rabada who bowled 5 dot balls before the last one being hammered by Dhoni over the mid-wicket fence for a maximum. Dhoni finished unbeaten on 92 and India reached a challenging total of 247/9. This was the knock of the match which ultimately made the difference. His captaincy was also astute as he kept rotating the bowlers to good effect, keeping the pressure on the visitors with fielders in attacking positions.

2. Morne Morkel’s brilliant spell:

The tall fast bowler bowled the best spell of the innings for the Proteas taking the wickets of Dhawan and Raina. India had reached a score of 59/1 when Dhawan was looking well set and untroubled on 23 off 34 balls with 4 crisp boundaries. A clever change of pace, slower off cutter outside the off stump, lured the left-hander into a false shot and he ended up hitting the ball straight to JP Duminy at short cover. India’s struggle started from this moment onwards. He later dismissed Suresh Raina with a well directed short ball which strangled the left-hander and had him caught down the leg side. A faint edge and QDK took a good diving catch behind the wickets. At 104/5, India’s hopes of getting a big total took a major blow.

3. Axar Patel’s match winning spell:

Patel was introduced by Dhoni in the 7th over of the South African innings and he immediately repaid his captain’s faith as he removed the run-machine Hashim Amla off his 4th ball. Amla danced down the pitch to hit over the in-field however the ball turned a wee bit away and beat him completely. Dhoni did the rest behind the wickets with an easy stumping. The 3rd wicket partnership of 82 runs between JP Duminy and du Plessis was taking the game away from India and Patel gave the breakthrough which proved to be the turning point of the innings. Duminy got down early and tried to hit a hard sweep but missed the ball and was struck on the pads. Axar had his man plum in front. His next wicket of Faf du Plessis, who was the visitor’s top scorer with 51 runs off 56 balls, was a big wicket. The right-hander wanted to go over that man at cover but did not get enough elevation. He hit the ball uppishly where Kohli jumped to take a fine catch. A spell of 3/39 from 10 overs was what dented South African’s hopes of overhauling the target.

4. Kohli’s catches kept India in the game:

‘Catches win matches’ is an old yet true saying from the time this game was first played. Kohli took 3 catches which kept India in the game and South Africa under pressure. Kohli had missed out with the bat courtesy a horrible mix up with Rahane with the latter clearly being at fault. Kohli though produced a fine display of fielding and catching to give India crucial wickets. Standing at covers he saved many runs and took catches of du Plessis, the dangerous de Villiers and Steyn to seal the deal for his team. An acrobatic jump, a spectacular dive low to his left and a backtracking running catch summed up his night in the field as the hosts leveled the series 1-1. Kohli showed great reflexes and composure on all three instances to bring delight to a packed house at the Holkar Stadium.

5. Mistimed aggression from the Proteas:

A target of 248 runs on this batting-friendly surface should have proved a cakewalk for the visitors instead turned out to be disastrous display of batting. The likes of Amla, de Kock, du Plessis and Duminy tried to be too aggressive and threw their wickets rather casually. When singles and doubles could have easily won it for the visitors, these top order batsmen tried to dominate the bowlers and in the process brought about their teams down fall. South Africa can ill-afford such failures if they are to win their first ever ODI series in India. Batting positively is alright as long as it is sensible and calculated cricket. In trying to reach the target in a hurry the Proteas have given the hosts the opening they were desperately looking for. The pressure will now be on South Africa and their batsmen will need to shoulder more responsibility.

Also read: Watch: Virat Kohli takes a stunner to dismiss AB de Villiers