South Africa vs India, 2nd ODI - India Player Ratings

After a thoroughly convincing win in the Durban ODI, team India walked in to the Centurion game with some serious confidence. On the other hand, the hosts, South Africa, looked struggling as they arrived at the venue for the second ODI. They arrived in to the game without the services of their two senior players, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers. With this backdrop, the two sides took the field for the day game at the SuperSport park.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl first. South Africa started off cautiously in the innings with their openers showing some resistance. But once Hashim Amla was dismissed, the Indian wrist spinners wreaked havoc to bundle out the hosts for a paltry 118. Yuzvendra Chahal was the wrecker-in-chief with his maiden ODI five-wicket haul.

In the run chase, the Indian team got off to a flying start with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan playing some free flowing shots. Rohit was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada on 15 and that brought the in-form Indian skipper Virat Kohli to the crease. Kohli and Dhawan then ensured that the visitors cruised home with 9 wickets in hand.

Here are the India Player Ratings for the match:

Shikhar Dhawan – 9/10

Shikhar Dhawan was unlucky to have missed out on scoring big in the previous game. He had got off to a decent start but his knock was cut short after a miscommunication at the crease. Dhawan certainly looked very good in this game as well. He scored a brilliant fifty to steer India over the line in the match. He played his shots freely and remained unbeaten on 51 that came off 56 deliveries with 9 boundaries to his name.

Rohit Sharma – 3/10

Rohit Sharma missed a very good opportunity to get the match feel yet again. He had all the time in the world to stay at the crease and get his feet moving. But the hard-hitting batsman seemed to have lost his plot in a bid to play attacking shots. He scored 15 off 17 deliveries with a couple of fours and a six during his stay at the crease.

Virat Kohli – 9/10

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was the star of the show in the previous game. He continued his good form of Durban in Centurion as well. He stitched an unbeaten stand for the second wicket to help India notch up a clinical 9 wicket win in the series. He scored an unbeaten 46 off 50 deliveries with four boundaries and a six.

Ajinkya Rahane – 5/10

Ajinkya Rahane was one of the top performers for team India in the first ODI. His services were not largely needed with the bat in the match. Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan did the bulk of the scoring for the Indian team. Earlier in the game, Rahane took a decent catch to dismissed David Miller.

Kedar Jadhav – 4/10

The services of Kedar Jadhav were not much needed on the day. The Indian frontline bowlers bowled well enough to keep Jadhav’s bowling services at bay. Also, the top order did the task with ease to finish things off for the visitors.

MS Dhoni – 6/10

Wicketkeeper batsman MS Dhoni had a decent time with the gloves behind the stumps. Dhoni took one catch in the match. He dived low to take the catch of Hashim Amla in the early stages of the game. Later, Dhoni chipped in with valuable contributions in the form of his advice to the Indian wrist spinners – Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

Hardik Pandya – 2/10

Hardik Pandya was in the news during the course of the match for his unusual hairdo. But when it came to the on-field performances, Pandya was far from being impressive. Pandya proved to be the weak link in the Indian bowling attack. In the five overs that he bowled, he gave away as many as 34 runs with an economy rate of 6.8.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 9.5/10

Yuzvendra Chahal was the star of the show for team India. The leggie got rid of Quinton de Kock in his very first over. He then broke the partnership between JP Duminy and Khaya Zondo that looked like rebuilding the South African innings. He accounted for both their dismissals. Later, he dismissed Chris Morris and Morne Morkel to complete his maiden ODI five-for. Chahal finished with figures of 5/22 in his 8.2 overs on the day.

Kuldeep Yadav – 9/10

The surface in Centurion looked like a track that would assist the spinners. The moment Indian skipper saw the ball turn early on in the innings and called up Kuldeep Yadav to bowl inside the first 10 overs of the innings. Kuldeep responded well by dismissing Aiden Markram on the very first ball of his spell. A couple of deliveries later, he dismissed David Miller as well. Later, he trapped Kagiso Rabada lbw in the match. He returned with figures of 3/20 in the six overs that he bowled.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 8/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a decent time with the ball in the match. Bowling in tandem with Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar kept things tight in the game. He bowled 5 overs in the match and gave away just 19 runs. More importantly, he provided the first breakthrough for India by dismissing Hashim Amla in the match. Bhuvi also bowled a maiden over in the match.

Jasprit Bumrah – 8/10

Much like his bowling partner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah also bowled exceptionally well with the new ball. He did not allow either of the South African openers to settle down. He gave away just 12 runs in the five overs that he bowled on the day. He also had a maiden to his name and accounted for the dismissal of Imran Tahir in the match.

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