What happened the last time India played a T20I at Holkar Stadium, Indore?
India and Afghanistan will play the second of their three T20I series at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday. It'll be the first T20I at the stadium since the entertaining clash between India and South Africa on October 4, 2022.
That was the final match of a three-match T20I series just before the 2022 T20 World Cup, just like how this is also India's final series in the format before the 2024 T20 World Cup. India were leading the rubber 2-0 and were looking for a clean sweep.
However, the Proteas quickly crushed that idea. Quinton de Kock hit a six and a four against Mohammed Siraj in the second over to set the ball rolling and eventually carried them to 30/0 in the fourth over.
His partner, Temba Bavuma, who was already having an off-series, spent most of the time at the other end. Umesh Yadav, who not many would have expected to play the series, came and took him out on the first ball of the fifth.
That only made things better for South Africa. In came Rilee Rossouw, who had recorded two ducks in the previous two matches. He looked iffy against a couple of early short balls but got off the mark with a beautiful clip for four.
And he just never stopped. Riding his luck (Siraj dropped him off Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling) he spared no one and looked hell-bent on sending every ball to the boundary. He was successful 15 times (seven fours and eight sixes) and raced to his century off just 48 balls.
On the other end, de Kock did his thing. He maintained a decent strike rate to get to a 33-ball 50 and eventually was run out for 68 (43). The knock made him South Africa's highest run-scorer in T20Is with 2,032 runs, a record that he still holds.
When he got out, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller played two brilliant cameos from the other end. The latter plundered 24 runs in the final over against Deepak Chahar to take the score to a brilliant 227/3.
India lost a home game while chasing after ages
The target was difficult, to say the least, but India wanted to approach it with bravery. But they were hit by the genius of Kagiso Rabada who got skipper Rohit Sharma played on for a duck on the second ball of the innings.
Rishabh Pant was opening the innings for this match and the move seemed it'd work when he grilled Lungi Ngidi for two sixes and two fours early on. But a slightly uneven bounce on the pitch first got him and then Shreyas Iyer out within minutes.
Dealt with a big double blow, India sent wicketkeeper-batter and designated finisher Dinesh Karthik early, even before Suryakumar Yadav. It would seem inconceivable today but the management was proved right, somewhat.
Karthik showed his best form, hitting four sixes and as many boundaries (Wayne Parnell and Keshav Maharaj became major targets) to give his team a glimmer of hope. But he threw his wicket away by missing a reverse scoop against Maharaj.
South Africa ran through the middle order quickly, exposing India's lack of batting depth which had Axar Patel, Ashwin, and Harshal Patel following Suryakumar.
From 120/8, pacers Chahar and Umesh Yadav swung their bats around, timed a few, and mistimed a few more but accumulated 48 runs together. This was India's highest partnership for the ninth wicket in T20Is and the only positive to take from the game as the hosts were bowled out in the 19th over.