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JP Duminy (AFP Image)
Rain threat continued to loom large but South Africa managed to chase down 189 with 4 balls to spare, despite losing both openers – Smuts and Hendricks – early.
Smuts departed for 2 while Hendricks departed for 26, trying to up the ante as South Africa kept one eye on the D/L score.
Klaasen joined captain Duminy in the middle and the two never looked trouble. They were aided by the conditions as constant drizzle meant bowlers had to struggle with the grip.
Klaasen took the aggressors role in the partnership, targeting the leg side and also bringing out the reverse sweep to target Chahal. The leg-spinner ended up conceding 64 runs in his 4 overs and was wicket-less in what was a disappointing outing for him.
At one stage it seemed India would get back into the game after Klaasen and David Miller were dismissed in quick succession, but Duminy extinguished any hopes of an Indian comeback as he took on Unadkat, smashing two sixes to finish off the game.
Earlier, Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni helped India reach 188, which looked like an above par total given the conditions.
India lost Rohit early for a duck. Raina then joined Dhawan as two put together a 44-run stand. Then, India lost
Dhawan and Kohli in quick succession, with the Indian skipper having a rare failure with the bat.
But then Raina and Pandey steadied things for India, putting together 46-runs for the fourth wicket partnership.
Raina was dismissed for 31, and that meant Dhoni joined Pandey in the middle. Dhoni hasn’t been having the best of times with the bat but the former skipper proved why he still has so much to offer as he scored his second T20I half-century off just 43 balls.
He bought ot his A-game, including short arm jabs that went for sixes and some hard running between the wickets which challenged the fielders.
Pandey too scored a fine 79 off just 48 balls, with Morris, Paterson and Shamsi going for big runs. Dhoni again proved to be the master finisher as he picked up 18 runs of the final over to help India finish strongly.
India vs South Africa 2018, 2nd T20I in Centurion Highlights - As It HappenedFirst Published: February 22, 2018, 1:21 AM IST
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