An extraordinary innings of 106 not out by David Miller was in vain for South Africa as they lost the second T20 International against India by 16 runs at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.
India compiled their fourth-highest T20I total of 237-3 after being asked to bat first and South Africa slumped to 2-2 in reply before finishing on 221-3 with Miller and Quinton de Kock (69*) unable to challenge for victory despite their fourth-wicket partnership of 174.
Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli took dramatic advantage of the platform laid by opening batters KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to lead India to a daunting total of 237-3 which was always likely to be beyond South Africa and so it proved with India winning the three-match series with a game to spare.
"Just thinking not to play him anymore; just play him on the 23rd (of October, when India open their World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan)," Rohit said of the in-form batsman, who hit his third successive half-century.
"He is somebody who wants to play the game, wants to keep going out there and keep doing well. That is what keeps him happy and we want to keep him happy."
Suryakumar was run out in a mix-up with Kohli in the 19th over for a stunning 61 from only 22 balls (5x4, 5x6) while Kohli finished unbeaten on 49 from just 28 balls with seven fours and a six.
Rahul (57 from 28 balls, 5x4, 4x6) dominated an opening stand of 96 in just 9.5 overs as the South Africa fast bowlers all suffered on a pitch offering precious little assistance to seamers and spinners alike and Yadav led a ferocious batting assault in the second half of the innings, reaching 50 from just 18 balls.
Captain Rohit was tame by comparison with his 43 coming from 37 balls (7x4, 1x6) before an attempted slog-sweep against the excellent Keshav Maharaj (4-0-23-2) landed in the hands of Tristan Stubbs at deep midwicket.
LITTLE RESPITE
An orthodox sweep against the same bowler saw the demise of Rahul, lbw, with the total at 107-2 midway through the 12th over.
But there was little respite with Yadav appearing to know exactly where the fast bowlers were going to bowl each delivery – and exactly where he was going to hit them.
Kagiso Rabada conceded 18 from his first two overs before Yadav hooked and flicked him for a pair of sixes which saw his third over cost 22 runs.
Anrich Nortje (3-0-41-0)was treated with similar disdain, conceding 31 from his first two overs before ‘recovering’ with just 10 from his final over while Lungi Ngidi (4-0-49-0) and Wayne Parnell (4-0-54-0) suffered collapses in the final overs bowling a stream of full-tosses as they clearly struggled to grip the ball in Guwahati’s infamous humidity.
Rabada bore the brunt of the hitting in the final overs conceding an eye-watering 39 from his final two finishing with 0-57 from his quota of four.
Having been reduced to 2-2 in reply it appeared that the tourists were as interested in saving their pride as they were in victory as the asking rate climbed to 18 runs-per-over but, despite a workmanlike 69* (48 balls, 3x4, 4x6) from De Kock and a characteristically dynamic innings from Miller, the target was never in sight.
'ONE OF THE BEST'
Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma did nothing to quell the debate about his place in the XI with a seven-ball duck, driving left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh to mid-off. Rilee Rossouw mangled a hook shot against Arshdeep to mid-wicket for a second-ball duck.
Aiden Markram (33 from 19 balls) launched the comeback before a quicker ball from left-arm spinner Axar Patel found the top of off-stump.
"It shows why David Miller is one of the best T20 batters going around," Bavuma said of the big-hitter.
"He is looking good, feeling good and we can draw a lot of confidence from his performance today."
South Africa made one change to the XI which lost the first game on Wednesday by eight wickets with seamer Ngidi replacing left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. India retained the same starting XI.
The final game is in Indore on Tuesday.
INDIA: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
SOUTH AFRICA: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma (captain), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi