India vs South Africa, 2nd T20I - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

India have some thinking to do heading into the third T20I at Dharamsala. Yes, they won by a big margin in the first game but dig a little deeper and they’ll realize it was Hardik Pandya’s innings that bailed them out after the rest of the batters struggled. It was more of the same here with Tilak Varma shouldering much of the burden while the others struggled. India’s bowlers were poor too, both Bumrah and Arshdeep not only went wicketless but also leaked a lot of runs. Uncharacteristically, both missed their lines and lengths. India will also need to figure out their batting approach and potentially reconsider having a more stable batting order. That’s it from us today, we hope you enjoyed our coverage. This is Anurag Hegde, Nikhil Jadhav and Siva bidding you a good night.

Quinton de Kock | Player of the Match: Yeah, tell me about it. I don’t know what’s going on, it’s just happening. I guess that’s the thing, when I do get going, I try to make it count. That’s pretty much what it is, literally. Look, I just think it’s because we play each other so many times. And we always play on good wickets, especially here back home. That’s literally what it boils down to at the end of the day. Not really. Look, the guy’s (Arshdeep Singh) got me out plenty of times, that I know for sure. And it always seems to be the same way. So I think it was just a technical thing I needed to be aware of, and after that it would sort of play out naturally. That’s pretty much all it boils down to. I think the wicket was a bit slow up front, felt like it took some time to get to the bat. When we were batting, any new batsman would find it a bit harder to come in. The ball didn’t feel like it was wet; it still felt dry. So it was just a matter of myself and Aiden (Markram) holding on and trying to build a partnership, because it wasn’t going to be easy for the next guy walking in. And when the Indian team batted, it went the other way. It got two-paced with a bit more pace in it, it quickened up and everything moved around at pace. When we batted, it moved around quite slowly. So that’s really the difference between the conditions in the two innings.

Aiden Markram: Yeah, much better tonight. Obviously we started off with a special knock from Quinny (de Kock) and some really good contributions at the end that got us to a really good total. I thought the bowlers were good in the first game and even better this evening, so they’re definitely trending in the right direction, which is great to see. And naturally, from a fielding point of view, the first two games have gone wonderfully. It (the conditions) was good. There was something there for the bowlers when the ball was in the right area, especially when it was new and hard. And if a batter got in, as we saw with Quinny and Tilak, they could put the bowlers under pressure. So a good wicket, nice-sized field, quite fair as well. Great stadium, great support here for India, and a nice game to be part of. Yeah, it’s (selection) never easy. As a player, you want three or four games on the run to build momentum. But it also has to do with how busy our summer looks now, building up towards the World Cup with SA20 and the series. Making sure we have our best available XI for the World Cup is obviously the number one priority. Some guys are resting, some are rotating to give fair opportunities. Hopefully by the time SA20 is done, everyone has had good game time and we’re ready for the World Cup. I mean you put your hand up to do whatever job the team needs. That role needed to be filled at five. I’ve batted in the middle order in the past few years, and between the three top-order batters, I was probably best suited for that. You’re never bigger than the team, that’s really important. Not just myself, but a lot of the guys live that way, and it’s a good trait to have. Look, we’ll reflect. My knock in the middle, I’d probably like to maximise those balls a bit better. But we’ll reflect and try to find a few percentages here and there. Then make sure we start fresh again tomorrow.

Suryakumar Yadav: Think should have batted then. I mean, we bowled first and there was not enough we could do. We could have just come back nicely because we bowled first and then later on they realized how the lengths are important on this wicket. But yeah, it's a learning process. Just learn and move forward. A little bit of dew as well and also if it wasn't working, we should have had a second plan, but we didn't go to that. But it's okay. As I said, it's a learning process. We learned how they bowled in the second innings. We learned from that and then we try and execute in the next game. I think myself, Shubman, we could have given a good start because we can't rely on Abhishek all the time. The way he's been batting, he might have an off-day. Me, Shubman and few other batters should have taken it. I think it would have been a smart chase. But then it's okay, Shubman got out on the first ball. But yeah, I should have taken that responsibility, batted a little deeper. But yeah, as I said, we learn, we try and do better in the next game to come. We just thought in the last game, we have seen Axar bat really well in the longer format. And we wanted him to bat back the same way today as well. Unfortunately (it didn’t work), but he did bat well. But we will see what's up for us going on in the next game.

Most wins against India in T20Is
13 - South Africa (33 mats)*
12 - Australia (37 mats)
12 - England (29 mats)
10 - New Zealand (25 mats)
10 - West Indies (30 mats)

India while chasing a 210-plus target (T20I)
Mats - 7
Won - 0
Lost - 7

Most PoTM award for South Africa (T20I)
9 - David Miller
9 - Tabraiz Shamsi
7 - AB de Villiers
7 - Quinton de Kock*

India lost a T20I for the first time in 14 matches with both Bumrah and Arshdeep in the XI.

Biggest defeat for India in T20Is (by runs)
80 vs NZ, Wellington, 2019
51 vs SA, Mullanpur, 2025*
49 vs AUS, Bridgetown, 2010
49 vs SA, Indore, 2022
47 vs NZ, Nagpur, 2016

South Africa seamers today (by length)
Full: 2/31, 17 balls, ER: 10.94
Good: 7/25, 29 balls, ER: 5.17
Short: 1/64, 45 balls, ER: 8.53

Most wickets lost vs pacers by India in a T20I innings
10 vs SA, Mullanpur, 2025*
9 vs WI, Basseterre, 2022
9 vs PAK, New York, 2024 WC
– This is also the first time South Africa's pacers took all ten wickets in a T20I innings.

Tilak Varma vs South Africa in T20I
Inngs: 8
Runs: 397
Avg: 66.16
SR: 174.12
100s/50s: 2/1
HS: 120*
4s/6s: 29/27

Four-wicket haul for SA vs IND in T20Is
4/24 - Ottneil Baartman, Mullanpur, 2025*
4/29 - Lungi Ngidi, Perth, 2022 WC

Ottneil Baartman: Nothing too fancy. I reckon the two frontline seamers set the tone for us up front and just allowed me to come in and do my thing. We acknowledged that there was something in the surface, so it was about keeping the ball in the surface and hopefully getting some purchase off the wicket. They (Jansen and Ngidi) are swing bowlers, so they try to swing the ball up front. Me and Lutho (Sipamla) are natural seam bowlers, so it worked for me today. Just tried to seam it up; maybe wobble seam, cross seam, and we can skid it a little bit, so we just kept it a touch fuller. The training camps are quick and fast, so you need to be warm all the time. Whenever the captain calls upon you, you have to be ready. When they set the tone the way they did, when you have teams three or four down in the powerplay, it’s difficult for them to come back from that. That just allows the backup bowlers to do their thing.

22:43 Local Time, 17:13 GMT, 22:43 IST: South Africa have bounced back and how! They've claimed a commanding 51-run win here after being outplayed in the previous game. It was clearly just an off day for the South African batting unit at Cuttack. They were excellent today and made the surface look a lot better than it actually was. Quinton de Kock set things up with his 90 and found support right through the order as they posted a hefty 213. India's chase started off on the wrong foot as they lost Gill in the very first over. Abhishek Sharma looked really good during his brief innings but he was undone by Jansen. Then Suryakumar Yadav fell cheaply too, squandering another opportunity to turn his form around and invariably intensifying the scrutiny he's already under. Axar Patel was promoted to No. 3 but he struggled right from ball one. So did Hardik Pandya, who was the difference between the two sides in the previous game. Tilak Varma was the only batter to get stuck in but his 34-ball 62 was far from enough. South Africa were on point with the ball throughout. The new ball bowlers got them breakthroughs early and they managed to sustain pressure right through. Not once did they allow the game to drift. Ottniel Baartman finished with 4/24 after picking up a couple of wickets at the death to seal the deal for the visitors.

Ngidi to Tilak Varma, THATS OUT!! Caught!!