In New Chandigarh, the 46-ball dominance by Quinton de Kock showed what the world was missing for a year and a half. Against India, on Thursday, the 90-run innings of Quinton cracked open India’s otherwise potent bowling lineup.
His innings helped South Africa overcome their nightmares about the first T20Is in Cuttack just two days ago, when they bowled out for 74. On the contrary, South Africa posted a formidable total of 213 runs at the New Chandigarh stadium. The one knock of de Kock was enough for South Africa to put pressure on the Indian batters. Indian batters couldn’t catch up with the required rate and surrendered 51 runs short of the target.
We all know that Abhishek Sharma has become one of the most feared T20 openers in the World. He wasn’t able to bring his magic to the field at his home ground. However, Quinton de Kock showed everyone that he can still match the standards set by the new generation of T20 batters.
Quinton de Kock also made sure to punish Arshdeep Singh in this game. Arshdeep had the upper hand whenever these two encountered each other previously. The onslaught of the left-hand batter rattled the Indian pacer to an extent that he started delivering wides. He bowled seven wides in an over to stay away from the batter’s arc.
When India came on to bat in the second innings, Marco Jansen trapped Abhishek early on for 17. The struggles of Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill continued as they were dismissed cheaply. Among Indian batters, only Tilak Verma took the challenge and played some incredible shots. He made 62 off just 34 balls. The African bowlers tried to bowl good lengths to keep them at bay. The power hitters of India, Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube, couldn’t do much and fell swinging wildly.
For the Indian bowling side, only Varun Chakravarthy had a decent game (1/29). In this game, India bowled 16 wide balls, and Bumrah was unable to execute a single yorker. On the day, there was a vast difference in the way both teams played the game.
