South African skipper Aiden Markram showered praise on his bowlers after their three-wicket win against India at St George’s Park, Gqeberha in the second T20I on Sunday. After electing to bowl first, the Proteas were able to restrict India to a below-par score of 124-6.
The visitors lost three early wickets and found themselves tottering at 15-3. Marco Jansen was able to provide the crucial breakthrough of in-form batter Sanju Samson in the very first over. Abhishek Sharma was once again dismissed by Gerald Coetzee whereas Simelane plumbed Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav in front of the wickets.
Tilak Varma was taken brilliantly by David Miller whereas leg spinner Nqabayomzi Peter accounted for Rinku Singh to put the hosts in front.
Aiden Markram said in the post-match presentation, “I thought we bowled really well, some really good plans and our bowlers executed really well. From the batting point of view, you want to break the back of the chase at the mid-way stage but it didn’t work out today. Sometimes when you lose wickets in a cluster it doesn’t look pretty. We need to take it on the chin, we are definitely going to keep our brand of cricket going.”
On the other hand, South Africa also struggled with the bat and found themselves reeling at 66-6 in the run-chase of 125. However, Tristan Stubbs scored a match-winning knock of 47* whereas Gerald Coetzee scored a fine cameo of 9-ball 19 to help their team level the series.
Markram lauded the duo, stating, “They are coming in after a break, nice to see the fire in their bellies. Really proud of course, the role Simelane and Peter played with the ball was massive. To all the guys on the younger side, they inspired the older guys. We need to take one game at at time. We won this game to level the series and we are happy.”
The third T20I of the series between India and South Africa will be played at the SuperSport Park, Centurion on Wednesday.
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