Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted it was tough to defend after their five-wicket loss against South Africa in the second T20I at St George’s Park, Gqeberha on Tuesday. India scored 180-7 in 19.3 overs before rain intervened after they were put into bat by South African skipper Aiden Markram.

The home team was given a revised target of 152 runs in 15 overs and they were able to get over the line with seven balls to spare.

Meanwhile, the Indian bowlers had their work cut out to bowl with a wet ball because of the rain. South Africa was given a brisk start by their openers as Reeza Hendricks and Matthew Breetkze added 42 runs off just 17 balls.

All the Indian bowlers were taken to the cleaners as they could not get their line and length right. Hendricks top-scored with 49 for the Proteas whereas Tristan Stubbs and Andile Phehlukwayo added the finishing touches.

Suryakumar Yadav feels his team posted a par score on the board but they could not execute with the ball in tough conditions.

Yadav said in the post-match presentation, “At the halfway stage, I thought it was a par score but they batted beautifully in the first 5-6 overs and took the game away from us. It was the brand of cricket we were talking about, just go out and express ourselves. It was tough with the wet ball, but we would face similar situations in the future and it’s a good learning for us. Looking forward to the third T20I.”

On the other hand, Rinku Singh continued to impress as he scored a fine knock of 68 runs off just 39 balls. Suryakumar Yadav also scored a brilliant knock of 56 runs after India lost both of their openers – Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill – without troubling the scorers.

The third and final T20I of the series will be played at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on Thursday.