5 Talking Points of India Vs South Africa, 2nd T20I

5 Talking Points of India Vs South Africa, 2nd T20I: After suffering a narrow defeat in the first match, it was the second T20I at Cuttack today. As it happened, India was batting first in the match and the cricket world witnessed a sheer batting collapse from the Men in Blue. India were bundled for a total of 92 runs on the board. This smoothened the path for the victory of the South Africans. Today’s match reflected a huge void in the stability of the Indian batting line up. To get a better grasp onto the happenings of the match, here are the 5 talking points of the match.

1. Kohli’s run out:

After losing the first wicket early, just when a steady partnership was beginning to take effect between Kohli and Rohit Sharma, a misunderstanding in running between wickets between Kohli and Rohit ended up in Kohli getting out from a throw from Chris Morris, with AB de Villiers doing the final job of dislodging the bails in the minimum possible time. Kohli was dismissed for a score of only 1 run and India was into the collapse.

2. India’s middle order misery:

The middle order of the Indian batting line up, for yet another time, was miserable to say the least. None of the batsmen were able to make an impact. After being poised at 2/43 in the 8^th over, India were reduced to 7/69 in the 13^th over of the innings. Batsmen with the likes of Rayudu, Dhoni and Axar Patel were dismissed on single digit scores. Raina made a fighting 22 runs, but even he wasn’t able to convert his score into a big one.

3. Albie Morkel’s resurgence:

Behind the collapse of Indian batting line up, there was an ecstatic contribution from Albie Morkel. Morkel made his return to International Cricket in this match and made a significant mark. He dismissed Dhoni, Axar Patel and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and clinched 3 wickets in his 4 overs by conceding 12 runs. Also, he was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his great performance.

4. Disappointing crowd:

Again after a long time, the crowd at a Cricket stadium in India showed immaturity and lack of sporting spirit. Bottles were being thrown in the ground and umpires were forced to halt the play twice due to such violence in the crowd. This was the first T20 international at the Barabati stadium and after the spectators showed such acts, it is quite unlikely that Barabati stadium would be getting more T20 internationals in the near future.

Also read: Twitter Reactions: India v South Africa 2nd T20I, Crowd loses cool, disrupts play

5. Duminy’s anchoring role:

India did manage to create some sorts of pressure on the South African batsmen. But Duminy for yet another time proved that why he is considered the best in the business. He anchored the innings for South Africa and scored a settling unbeaten knock of 30 runs off 39 deliveries to seal the game for South Africa.