DELHI: South African batsmen David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen shone with a magnificent half-century in their team’s record run to end the unbeaten run of the Indian home team.
South Africa took the lead with a 1-0 lead in the ongoing five-match series as the touring team defeated India by seven wickets following their record-breaking chase.
Ready to chase down a gargantuan 212, the Proteas got off to an unwelcome start as the team lost skipper Temba Bavuma with just 22 runs on the board.
Goalkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock and Dwaine Pretorius then anchored the run chase briefly when they added 39 runs for the second wicket before Harshal Patel castled the latter on 29.
After his ejection, de Kock couldn’t last long either, dying in the ninth after scoring 22 of 18 deliveries.
With the tour team struggling at 81/3 in the ninth while chasing 212, Miller and van der Dussen displayed brilliance and stole the show with breakneck strikes, both scoring half a century.
The pair posted an unbeaten partnership of 131 runs for fourth wicket and led their side to victory comfortably at the end. Miller hit a quick 64-for-31 shot, laced with four bounds and five sixes, while van der Dussen scored an unbeaten 75-for-46 with the help of seven bounds and five sixes.
For India, Harshal, Axar Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar each made one scalp.
Batting first, India posted a whopping 211/4 total in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to astonishing striking from left-handed opener Ishan Kishan, who posted a team-best 76 from 48 deliveries, including 11 bounds and three sixes. .
Top-order batsman Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Hardik Pandya also contributed valiant strikes, scoring 36 and 31 respectively to bolster the team to a commendable total.
For South Africa, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell and Pretorius bagged a wicket each.
After the loss against Proteas, India lost the world record for most consecutive T20I wins by just one match and finished tied with Afghanistan with 12 wins.
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