India vs South Africa 2nd ODI Highlights: SA beat IND by 7 wickets, take unassailable 2-0 lead

When India had lost Rahul early in the previous game, a 92-run stand from Dhawan and Kohli helped India revive despite the loss that followed. India today started with a 63-run opening stand before losing two quick wickets which included the dismissal of Virat Kohli for a duck. India, however, revived on the back of a half-century stand between Pant and Rahul, who now nears his half-century.

India 115/2 in 22 overs

A single down to long-on from Pant and India reach the 100-run mark in 19.1 overs. The visitors had reached the mark in 18.2 overs in the previous game for the loss of just one wicket.

The first six of the game comes up and it is Pant with the big swing that sends the ball roaring into the sky and over the deep mid-wicket fence. Gets down on one knee to slog that delivery from Maharaj with all his might.

India 83/2 in 17 overs

Pant fended the delivery from Maharaj towards mid-wicket. He had already stepped out of the crease while Rahul was more than halfway down the track. But the fielder collected the ball in time leaving Pant top abort the single, but Rahul was already on his way to the other end and had almost reached the crease. With a real run-out chance in hand, the fielder had thrown the ball to Maharaj, but he failed to collect it properly. And adding to their woe, Phehlukwayo was a poor back-up as well. Rahul got time to return to his position, but was absolutely livid with Pant.

Tossed up delivery from Maharaj and Kohli looked to go over the fielder at cover, but the ball probably came slow onto the bat and failed to make a good contact as it landed straight into the hands of Bavuma. India lose two wickets in quick time after such an impressive powerplay. This was the 14th time he has been dismissed for a duck in ODIs, first time since December 2019 and first time by a spinner.

South Africa stuck with spin after the powerplay and it has resulted in that much-needed wicket. Dhawan slog swept it hard only to find Magala in the deep. Markram provides South Africa with the big breakthrough as Dhawan departs for 29.

India 63/1 in 11.4 overs

India finish with 57 for no loss with Rahul on 21* and Dhawan on 25*. India have hit six boundaries during this period while the hosts have conceded 11 extras. The score has been an improvement from the previous game where India managed 55/1 in the powerplay while South Africa had scored 39/1 in the first innings.

India have made a steady start in the second ODI. The openers have kept things ticking along with boundaries and singles, leaving Bavuma and Sputh Africa frustrated. The pair have also stitched their 50-run partnership. They have managed 46 in the previous match before Markram had dismissed Rahul. 

Aiden Markram into the attack. He had dismissed the Indian captain early in the last game and South Africa will be hoping for the same. Excellent start from the right-arm off-spinner, just four singles in his first over.

India 49/0 in 8 overs

Very poor start from Magala. The ball just slipped out of his hands, went well wide of the leg stump, past the wicketkeeper's reach and raced away towards the boundary. 9 off the over. Magala has already conceded 29 runs in the match and India have scored 42 for no loss in 6 overs.

Ngidi delivers a shortish ball, just outside off as Rahul cuts it which sends the ball to Malan at gully, but he drops the opportunity. Should have gone with both hands. Dhawan sent the next delivery roaring through extra cover for a boundary. 

India 33/0 in 5 overs

Short and wide from Magala and Rahul cut it elegantly through backward point for his first boundary. Magala concedes 5 runs in his second over.

India 26/0 in 4 overs

Ngidi gave him the width and Dhawan pounced on it to smash it through the covers for his third boundary in the game. He had scored 79 off 84 in the opener in Paarl.

India 21/0 in 3 overs

Magal, who is only playing his second ODI for South Africa, had a nervy start. Dhawan ended his over with yet another boundary flicked off the pads, through square leg this time, for a boundary.

India 16/0 in 2 overs

Magala in his first over, swung the ball into the pads of Dhawan and the left-handed batter flicked it off his pads to send the ball through mid-wicket for a boundary.

KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan make their way to the middle. Lungi Ngidi opens the attack for South Africa.

"One change for us. Sisanda comes in for Jansen. Marco had a big workload in the Test series, and felt he was a bit flat in the first game, we got full confidence in Magala and that's the reason behind the change."

"We probably wanted to bat first, like KL said it's quite straightforward with the nature of the wicket. I think there will be opportunity in the first hour with the ball swinging and nipping a bit, if we can take a couple of wickets and put them under pressure. I wouldn't say it was a perfect game (first ODI), but I will take that result. It's just to get better from last game and try and find a way to improve and we have a better understanding of the wicket and what type of skills that we need, so just make sure we are on point in terms of that. We gonna have to do the basics well."

"I think it's pretty straightforward, second game on the same strip and important to put runs on the board and guessing the wicket will get slower later on. In the middle overs we couldn't get the partnerships going and that's the learning from the last game, hopefully we can go out there today and show better performance. The batters themselves realized that's where it went wrong, we will learn from it and we have spoken about it. We are playing the same team."

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Janneman Malan, Temba Bavuma(c), Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Sisanda Magala, Tabraiz Shamsi

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

India won the toss and opted to bat first against South Africa

India's middle-order collapse in the last game was considered a primary reason behind the defeat in Paarl. However, in the period between January 2021 and the start of the previous game, India's middle order averaged 44, only behind New Zealand in ODIs. The key batter behind that number has been KL Rahul who scored 453 runs in 10 innings at 56.7 and a strike rate of 114 with four fifties and one century during that period, but took the responsibility to open in Rohit's absence in the series opener. 

"Our thought process is that we are building a team for the 2023 World Cup. So there are going to be a few hiccups here and there. But we all have good clarity that we have got this bunch of players and how we have to refine them. It doesn't matter if we lose an odd game while trying to do that because we are looking at the bigger picture."