IND vs. South Africa ODI: South Africa level series, defeat Team India in close contest; Kohli and Gaikwad's centuries go in vain
Raipur: In the second ODI against South Africa, Team India failed to defend the target of 359 runs. On Wednesday in Raipur, the visiting team achieved the target in the 50th over after losing 6 wickets. Aiden Markram scored a century for the team, while Dewald Brevis and Matthew Breitzki also scored fifties to level the series 1-1.
South Africa chose to bowl at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium. India scored 358 runs thanks to centuries from Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Captain KL Rahul scored a fifty. Marco Jansen took two wickets for South Africa.
South Africa lost their first wicket in the 5th over. From there, Aiden Markram formed a century partnership with captain Temba Bavuma. Bavuma was dismissed for 44. Markram then scored a century to take the team close to 200. Following Markram's dismissal, Dewald Brewis scored 54 and Matthew Breitzki scored 68 to take the team past 300.
By 322, the team lost the wickets of Brewis, Breitzki, and then Marco Jansen. However, Corbin Bosch finally secured the 37 runs needed to win, securing a close contest.
For India, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna took two wickets each. Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav took one wicket each. The third ODI of the series will be played in Visakhapatnam on December 6.
Poor fielding and extra runs compounded India's difficulties
Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped Markram in the 18th over when he was on 59. He also missed two easy boundaries. In the final overs, the team's fielders conceded extra runs through misfields and overthrows. Not only that, but they also conceded 11 runs from a wide.
Centuries from Kohli and Gaikwad, India scored 358
Earlier, at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur, the Indian team lost the toss for the 20th consecutive ODI. South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first. Team India scored 358 for 5 in 50 overs. Virat Kohli (102 runs) scored a century for the second consecutive match. Ruturaj Gaikwad also played an innings of 105 runs, scoring the first century of his ODI career.
Prakash Kumar Pandey