India v South Africa 2nd ODI review: Dhoni’s inspired men overhaul South Africa in style

India v South Africa 2^nd ODI review: Dhoni’s inspired men overhaul South Africa in style: MS Dhoni was once again at the core of the nuclear reaction as he first determined India’s score with the bat scoring an unbeaten 92 taking India to 247 in their quota of overs and then inspiring his unit to defend their score and, bowling out South Africa 22 runs short of the mediocre target they had set.

India started the 2^nd ODI winning the toss and soon Dhoni announced the changes they had made in the squad, understandably Stuart Binny was excluded as Mohit Sharma walked in to at least bring bowling specialization. Unreasonably Amit Mishra was left out, despite doing well in the 1^st ODI at Kanpur. Harbhajan Singh walked in for the injured Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel was picked as the all-rounder in the squad. While South Africa stuck with the winning combination.

The decision to bat first must have puzzled a few and proved to be a gamble as soon as Kagiso Rabada got Rohit Sharma out in his very 1^st over and the 2^nd of the match. Rohit saw his stumps flying behind him just after scoring 3 runs and Rabada was all over the place. After a bad start India saw a brief phase of consolidation with both Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane who once again came in to bat at No. 3 rotating the strike focused on keeping the proceedings in control.

Rahane once again proved why there were so many votes for him to be brought into the XI as he chipped in with a well made half-century. Though it took him 63 balls more importantly he got India 51 runs at a time where most of their batsmen struggled to get past the South African bowlers. Imran Tahir got him out bowled round his legs after Virat Kohli once again ran himself out, running on his call without looking around at his partner who was cemented at his end.

The Indian team looked in deep trouble at 124/6 with MS Dhoni and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the crease. It was for Dhoni who had until then struggled to get his shots going and was thoroughly criticized for the way he batted as well as captained the side. But like he is known for and like he has done over the years Dhoni stuck around and went ahead with the task with the tail to partner.

Bhuvi stayed there for 32 balls, but contributed only 14 to the scoreboard. It was the arrival of Harbhajan Singh that particularly changed the momentum of the innings. Dhoni who had until then ran around as much as he could along with the odd boundaries, started batting freely, with more boundary shots coming, and with that he got closer to his best, at the level he has been for years on the trot.

Dhoni finished the match brilliantly though playing 5 dots in the last over struck a six on the last ball to take his score past 90 and the teams total to 247.

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It was going to be tough for India with the bowling they had, rather the experience they have had all through this series with the South African batsmen taking them to the cleaners right from the T20Is and the 1^st ODI at Kanpur to defend their score. The Indian pacers were little effective even today and despite playing 3 seamers Dhoni went to his spinner, Axar Patel as soon as the 7^th over and he opened it up foxing Hashim Amla to be stumped by Dhoni in a flash.

At 134/3 in 24 odd overs South Africa would have certainly fancied their chances with the score being well within reach and there being no pressure of the required run-rate. But, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and AB de Villiers got out in quick succession and at important junctures in the game. India knew it was the game they had in their grips as soon as Kohli caught AB brilliantly at covers. Though Farhan Behardein along with Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada dealt a few blows to scare the Indians but in the end the Indian fielders held on to some amazing catches and grabbed the game away from South Africa.

One must save a praise for the way both the Indian spinners Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh bowled, the two not only controlled the middle overs but also shared 5 crucial wickets between them.

What was pleasing to see was Dhoni expressing himself behind the wicket; one could see the leader in him command around his team and the boys responding instantly to the call from their skipper. It was his game; he was under pressure to prove himself not just as the skipper but as a batsman as well. And as a champion does he completely dominated the game for India and painted his name throughout in the match and absolutely deserves the credit for the win.

After the end of the game one could hear from Harbhajan what Dhoni told the team during innings break. “Dhoni was fantastic with his captaincy. The wicket was nice to bat on and the ball was turning only when you bowled it slower. Here and there a few sixes went but we kept the pressure on and Axar took two crucial wickets. We felt we were 30 runs short and Dhoni said in the huddle that if we kept the energy up and saved 25-odd runs we could do it,” Bhajji said.

Brief Scores:

India- 247/9 in 50 overs (Dhoni 92*, Rahane 51; Steyn 3-49)

South Africa – 225/10 in 43.4 overs (Du Plessis 51; Patel 3-39, 3-41)

India won the match by 22 runs

Man of the Match – MS Dhoni