Team India came roaring back in the ODI series against the Proteas to secure a 1-1 levelled scoreline in Ranchi on Sunday, with their two middle-order hopefuls Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan playing stand-out knocks to help their side prevail in a stiff run-chase.
Striving to overhaul the opposition’s challenging 278/7 in their allotted 50 overs, India reached home in less than 46 overs with their seven wickets intact thanks to a 161-run match-winning partnership between Kishan and Iyer.
The duo came together at 48/2, with the hosts in a tricky position, but they batted with such great composure and skill that the pressure shifted entirely on the South Africans.
Kishan was the one who started the Indian ascent to control and command over the proceedings. The left-hander recognised his limitations against hard lengths and bided his time through against the Proteas quicks early on in his innings.
Once set, he took a great liking to opposition’s stand-in skipper and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, dispatching him for a pair of sixes to finally pick up a gear to his knock. Crossing his fifty soon, Kishan only gained in belief to take on the aggressive route and took down another of his positive match-ups versus Anrich Nortje for a flurry of boundaries.
In total, the Jharkhand-lad scored 7 sixes and 4 fours through his knock of 93 off 84 deliveries. He missed out on a well-deserved ton, which would’ve stayed with him, arriving in a successful ODI run-chase against a tough opposition bowling attack.
That scenario was fulfilled by Iyer at his end. After scoring an attacking half-century in the first ODI in Lucknow, the right-hander batted sedately for the better part of his knock, scoring a measured fifty before opening up to produce a number of boundaries. Iyer went on to hammer his second ODI hundred for India, finishing unbeaten 113 off 111 balls to sail through a run-chase in a fashion that the great Virat Kohli would’ve been proud of watching in Australia.
The vititors had their life made difficult by the dew that fell excessively in Ranchi, but they had themselves to blame for opting to bat first upon winning the toss in conditions where the dew was imminent. It meant only one of their bowlers – Wayne Parnell (1/44) – looked in control through the second half.
Equally guilty for the defeat, however, were their batters for missing out on the opportunity to record a score in excess of 320-330, which would’ve forced Kishan and Iyer to take early risks into their respective innings.
South Africa had a poor start and an even more disappointing end to their innings. They were 40/2 at one point and reached only 278/7 after being 215/3 while approaching the death-overs phase. In between, they found a great stand among Aiden Markram (79) and Reeza Hendricks (74), who added 129 runs for the third wicket.
The two players batted superbly for their 70s but would be disappointed not to go on to get a big hundred as Iyer did for India. Equally annoyed would be Heinrich Klaasen (30) and David Miller (35*) for getting in but failing to explode as they usually do.
The credit for denying South Africa their desired score shall go to the Indian bowling unit, where Mohammed Siraj emerged as the stand-out performer for his 3 for 38 off 10 overs. Walking into the match with six bowlers and extra spin options proved fruitful for India, who could counter the visitors’ left-right combos with the smart use of debutant Shahbaz Ahmed (1/54) and comeback man Washington Sundar (1/60).
Brief scores
South Africa 278/7 in 50 overs (Markram 79, Hendricks 74; Siraj 3/38) lost to India 282/3 in 45.5 overs (Iyer 113*, Kishan 93; Parnell 1/44) by 7 wickets
