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We now come to the conclusion of our coverage for the 2nd ODI. One-each, all to play for at Paarl on Thursday. Join us right here on Sportskeeda for our extensive coverage of the same, and keep following us for a whole lot more! This is Rajarshi Das, signing off on behalf of Arya Sekhar Chakraborty. Good night - see you tomorrow!
Aiden Markram, South Africa captain: Much better than last day. Great standard with the ball and field. Thought it was a tough wicket when the openers walked out, to put on a 100-run plus partnership and set the game up was great. The breeze played a factor, fresh wicket as well, so we expected it to go around. Nandre (Burger) was being wasted from the other end, thought he might bowl from this one. Fairly simple other than that - bowl in the right areas and get the most out of the deck. All in all, chopped and changed quite a lot, bowlers did well today. We picked up wickets in the middle stages. We were always in the game, I suppose it was quite a tough wicket to bat on, maybe not a 300-run wicket, but high 200s, application was necessary in getting big runs. Huge from de Zorzi, to put a performance like that and remain not out till the end is special. Us in the change room was in awe, it was fantastic to watch, the dressing room enjoyed it. Incredibly happy for him, hopefully the first of many. You can't accept performances like that in the first game. We let ourselves down, and emphasized strongly on chasing today. Our unit is a lot more confident after tonight.
Tony de Zorzi is the Player Of The Match! Here's what he has to say: Just a bit stiff. There was a flow of emotions upon reaching the ton. I hope my mum's watching, hopefully she's back from work. Lot of stuff that goes through, happy you can prove it to yourself and the ones who care about you and back you. JP (Duminy) spoke to me about what they wanted from me, I just tried my best to implement what was told to me, Would have loved to go on at Johannesburg, I'm just grateful to do it today. (On how he'd describe himself as a player) Adaptable, I'll say, decent at adapting to different conditions. Probably hasn't sunk in yet. Cool to move towards the band and see everyone clapping. Will never forget a moment like this.
KL Rahul (India captain): Probably win the toss. There was a bit of help in the wicket in the first half. It was a difficult wicket to bat on but the players who were in Sudarshan and me should have batted better and scored big centuries. You get that extra 20-30 runs with that extra batter. But unfortunately, we kept losing wickets which didn't help our cause. Each individual has their own game plan and delivers as it comes. We keep telling the players to have a clear mindset. You trust the players to come up with their own plans and help them get better. There was bit of help in the first 10 overs. We did beat the bat and then dropped the catch. There was some help but not as much as the first innings. The result here we leave on the ground and try to focus on the decider.
Match summary:
South Africa win by 8 wickets with 45 balls to spare
Tony de Zorzi 119*(122) | Nandre Burger 3/30 (10) Bhardwaj Sai Sudharsan 62(83) | Rinku Singh 1/2 (1)
They sure did take their time, more so towards the end, but South Africa take this 3-match One Day International series to a decider! A compact display from their top-order see the Proteas seal the second ODI with just over 7 overs to spare, and most of their middle order unutilized! The Indian pacers tried their level best in making an impact with the new ball, but once the powerplay was done, the South African openers were well and truly settled in.
In spite of that, Reeza Hendricks found the going a lot tougher than his opening partner. The right-hander had two close shaves at the start - nicking towards the slip cordon, but got away with it. There were more plays and misses in the first 10, with Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh making the duo of Tony de Zorzi and Reeza Hendricks dance to their tunes. Both bowlers kept a tight line around off stump, and got the ball to angle across successfully.
While there wasn't much in terms of movement off the air or deck, the tight line and length from Mukesh and Arshdeep forced the two openers in seeing off the new ball. The introduction of Avesh Khan into the attack helped the two batters in breaking the shackles - there was width on offer from the Indori speedster, and de Zorzi and Hendricks cashed in. The flow of runs thickened, and KL Rahul turned to spin soon after.
As it turned out, spin barely had any impact on the game. While Axar Patel held one end up, de Zorzi took a liking to Kuldeep's wrist-spin, sweeping and slog-sweeping him for fun at times. The milestones began to tumble - both batters got to their respective fifties, the hundred partnership came up in the 22nd over, and soon after, the duo went on to raise the highest opening stand in ODI cricket at this venue.
Hendricks departed soon after, but the runs kept coming for the Proteas. Rassie van der Dussen took very little time in settling in, waited for the drivable lengths, and kept punching the pacers through the gaps. De Zorzi, in the meantime, paced his innings to perfection, bringing up a well-deserved maiden hundred. With the game away from their grasp, KL brought a couple part-timers along, and Rinku Singh came away with the prized scalp of van der Dussen!
It was only fitting that the man of the day - de Zorzi, finished proceedings off, and while it wasn't the most convincing ones, de Zorzi sealed it with a six!
Great grab from Mukesh, but the boundary rope's there for a reason! Quite a bizarre end, but de Zorzi and South Africa won't be too flustered about it - they've clinched the second ODI with plenty of time to spare!
42.3 Sai Sudharsan to Tony de Zorzi, SIX! South Africa wins it in style, an emphatic win by 8 wickets. Sudharsan tossing that up on this occasion, Zorzi gets down on one knee and goes for the slog sweep, didn't get that anything as clean as he did earlier, Mukesh Kumar takes the catch at the deep midwicket boundary but trudges over the fence.
42.3 Sai Sudharsan to Tony de Zorzi, arm ball on a length well wide outside off and has been wided by the umpire.
42.2 Sai Sudharsan to Tony de Zorzi, flatter around middle stump, worked away towards the midwicket fielder.
42.1 Sai Sudharsan to Aiden Markram, shorter outside off, cut away towards deep cover-point for a single.
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St George's Park, Port Elizabeth
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