Overview:
Bumrah went for 0-45 in four overs and fellow pacer Arshdeep Singh was even more expensive at 0-54, also in four overs
Team India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir’s experiments continue to put the Men in Blue down. The decision-makers are changing batting slots every now and then, which is now allowing the batters to settle down. Shubman Gill’s inclusion as an opener in T20Is has backfired, with the batter failing to contribute with the bat. Sanju Samson, who has formed a match-winning partnership with Abhishek Sharma, was demoted and then dropped. In the second T20I, the host nation suffered a 51-run defeat. Axar Patel was promoted to No.3, but he managed just 21 runs off 21 balls.
Suryakumar recorded another low score as the skipper was dismissed after posting just 5 runs. Tilak Varma, who has been unstoppable at No.3, batted at the No.5 position as India were bowled out for 162 while chasing 214 runs. Gill (0) and Abhishek Sharma (17) had another below-par outing.
Ottneil Baartman (4 wickets), Marco Jansen (2 wickets), and Lutho Sipamla (2 wickets) bowled well. Quinton de Kock’s 90 runs took the Proteas score to 213/4 in 20 overs.
India were 81-4 at the halfway stage of its chase, needing 133 more runs from 60 balls, with Varma and Hardik Pandya (20) at the crease.
Tilak Varma top scored for India with a 34-ball 62.
Bumrah went for 0-45 in four overs, and fellow pacer Arshdeep Singh was even more expensive at 0-54, also in four overs.
The third T20 is on Sunday at Dharamsala.
The series is in preparation for the T20 World Cup in India in February. India is the defending champion after beating South Africa in a gripping end to the final in 2024.
India won the ODI series against South Africa 2-1 after losing the test series 2-0.