Ishan Kishan’s career-best 93 and Shreyas Iyer’s second ODI century set India up for a series-levelling win on a slow, dry pitch in Ranchi. The pair shared a 161-run stand – the second highest third-wicket partnership for India against South Africa – and aced a challenging chase. In the process, they completed the highest successful chase against South Africa since March 2017 and denied their visitors 10 points on the World Cup Super League table. South Africa remain in 11th place.
South Africa’s attack was unable to control India’s scoring rate and struggled with significant dew under lights after choosing to bat first. While Wayne Parnell and Kagiso Rabada made early inroads, Anrich Nortje and Aiden Markram could not find the right lengths, and Keshav Maharaj had a rare off day. Without Lungi Ngidi, who was swapped out of the XI for Nortje, South Africa did not have their best executor of the slower ball at their disposal. One look at India’s bowling card showed how much they missed that.
Mohammed Siraj threatened upfront, made a crucial breakthrough in the middle and was economical at the death as he led India’s effort to contain South Africa. Only Reeza Hendricks and Markram’s run-a-ball stand of 129 gave South Africa some momentum but it was sandwiched between a slow start and finish. South Africa were 40 for 2 in the opening Powerplay and only managed 57 runs in the last 10 overs. Siraj delivered four overs upfront (1/24) and four from the 44th over (1/13) to bookend the innings.
He was well supported by Avesh Khan, who used the bouncer effectively, and the spin combination of debutant Shahbaz Ahmed and Kuldeep Yadav. Together, they bowled 19 overs and conceded 103 runs. In the end, India’s six-man attack was much better balanced than the five-bowler pack they went with in the first ODI, and South Africa, who were without regular captain Temba Bavuma and wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, were no match.
