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Despite missing an eighty-first wicket in his previous
twelve Twenty20 International innings, Reeza Hendricks was crucial to South
Africa’s triumph in a match that was impacted by rain in Gqeberha. With South
Africa’s victory, they hold an insurmountable advantage over India, who must
win on Thursday in Johannesburg to share the spoils after the first match of
the series rained out in Durban two days earlier.
Hendricks, who did not play in the T20 World Cup the
previous year but is now leading South Africa’s run scorer in the competition,
emphasised his position over the opener’s duty with yet another forceful blow.
Quinton de Kock, who is presently playing in the Abu Dhabi Twenty20, will be
considered nationally for the competition in the next year, but Hendricks’ most
recent efforts must secure him the other opener’s spot.
With a revised target of 152 in 15 overs, Hendricks
and Matthew Breetzke set off quickly in a challenging chase. They scored 42
runs in 16 balls before an overly enthusiastic Breetzke was out. After that,
Hendricks and skipper Aiden Markram added 54 runs in five overs, and South
Africa needed 44 runs from the final six overs when both were gone. David
Miller and Heinrich Klaasen both fell soon after, but Tristan Stubbs and Andile
Phehlukwayo wrapped up the victory with seven balls remaining.
Particularly South Africa, both attacks would have
been happy with the way their spinners performed. At 1 for 18 in four overs,
Tabraiz Shamsi had the most economical stats of any bowler. The fact that he
bowled a significant portion of his overs to Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav,
two of India’s half-centurions, demonstrated how outstanding his efforts were.
Once India was reduced to 6 for 2, they were able to reach a competitive total
thanks to the 36-ball 56 scored by Suryakumar and the unbeaten, career-best 68
off 39 by Rinku.
They would have liked the opportunity to score a few
more runs but rain cut their innings short with three balls to spare and Gerald
Coetzee on a hat-trick. A 57-minute delay meant South Africa lost five overs
from the chase but the match was completed without any further interruptions.