India will take on South Africa in the second T20 International of the ongoing five-match series at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday. The hosts lost the first T20I by seven wickets and will be looking to make a strong comeback in the second game.
India lost the first game largely due to poor bowling. Batting first, they put up a competitive total of 211 runs on the board with the help of a half-century from opening batsman Ishan Kishan. But their bowlers, especially the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Axar Patel leaked plenty of runs as the visitors wrapped up the chase in 19.1 overs. Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller were the best performers for South Africa. The two remained unbeaten on 75 and 64 respectively.
India were led by Rishabh Pant in absence of KL Rahul, who was ruled out on the eve of the first T20 due to injury. Pant’s captaincy had drawn flak during the recent IPL 2022, and it remains to be seen if he can prove critics wrong by leading India to a series win in the on-going series.
The second game will be played at the Barabati Stadium, where the pitch condition is different from what we saw in the opening T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The pitch in Cuttack is unlikely to produce a big total and the spinners will play a dominant role here.
Overall, India and South Africa have played 16 T20 internationals between them, of which India have won nine and South Africa seven.
Predicted XI
India: Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma (c), Dwaine Pretorius, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi
