De Kock's Blazing 90 and Baartman's 4-24 Seal South Africa's Series-Leveling Win

De Kock set the tone for South Africa, posting 213/4 with clean hitting at the top and dazzling shots hit square of the wicket through the leg-side, as his 46-ball 90 was laced with five fours and seven sixes. He also shared a partnership of 83 with skipper Aiden Markram for the second wicket, something which will keep IPL franchises interested in roping him at next week’s auction.

India briefly clawed back with scalps, with Varun Chakaravarthy taking two of them. But South Africa regained control in the closing stages, as David Miller (20 not out) and Donovan Ferreira (30 not out) added 53 runs off just 25 balls to push South Africa past 210. In reply, India’s chase faltered early and never recovered from the blows of losing Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, and skipper Suryakumar Yadav.

With Axar Patel’s puzzling promotion to number three failing to pay off, Tilak Varma was the only Indian batter to find rhythm and show some enterprise by scoring 62 off 34 balls. But he lacked support from the other end as wickets tumbled around him, and Varma was the last man to fall as India were bowled out for 162 in 19.1 overs.

South Africa’s bowlers maintained pressure throughout, used their cutters well, and conceded only five extras, including three wides, in tough bowling conditions, where India conceded a whopping 15 extras – seven of which came from Arshdeep Singh. Apart from Baartman, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, and Lutho Sipamla took two wickets each.

Inserted into batting first, de Kock gave South Africa a flying start by carting an erring Arshdeep for two sixes and a four in the third over. De Kock and Reeza Hendricks feasted on the short ball by getting a pulled six each off Jasprit Bumrah in the fourth over.

India turned to spin in the fifth over, and Chakravarthy got the first breakthrough by castling Hendricks with a quicker delivery that skidded through the pitch. The dismissal extended Chakravarthy’s dominance over Hendricks, with him having removed the batter three times in just seven balls in T20Is.

Despite that, South Africa maintained momentum as de Kock targeted Axar Patel in the sixth over - pulling him for a towering six, before punching and glancing off Hardik Pandya and Chakaravarthy for a brace of boundaries.

While Markram was yet to find fluency, de Kock reached his half-century off 26 balls with a leg-side whip off a full toss from Pandya, before dancing down the pitch to thump Axar for a maximum and launching an off-colour Arshdeep, who gave a staggering seven wides in an 18-run 11th over, down the ground for another six.

It felt Markram had found his groove by smacking Chakaravarthy over long-on for consecutive sixes. But attempting to hit another six, Markram holed out to deep mid-wicket, giving Chakaravarthy his second scalp.

De Kock continued to dazzle by smashing Pandya for boundaries before an attempt to dab into the off side ended in his dismissal as wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma moved sharply to his left, parried the ball between gloves, and broke the stumps.

One brought two for India as Axar cramped Dewald Brevis for room, and the top-edge on pull was caught by long‑on sprinting in to complete a diving low catch. With conditions being tough for bowlers, Miller and Ferreira hit six boundaries between themselves in the last three overs to lift South Africa past the 210-run mark.

India’s chase began in disarray as Gill was undone by a terrific delivery from Ngidi that straightened off a good length, squaring him up and finding the edge to slip, as he fell for a golden duck. Abhishek, who had already cleared the boundary ropes twice, was completely squared up as Jansen got one to straighten over the middle stump to draw an outside edge to the keeper and dismiss him for 17.

Axar walked in at number three, but soon saw Suryakumar depart as he went after a back-of-a-length ball from Jansen and edged behind to de Kock. Varma offered some resistance by hitting three boundaries, with a whipped six off Sipamla being the standout. But South Africa continued to chip away as Axar’s attempt to break free ended in chipping a drive to give cover a low catch off Baartman.

Varma brought out the pull and switch hit to collect sixes, before bringing up his fifth T20I fifty in 27 balls by slog-sweeping Ngidi for another maximum. But South Africa continued to chip away as a struggling Pandya holed out to deep mid-wicket off Sipamla, just a ball after being dropped by long-on.

Despite more lofty hits coming from the willows of Varma and Jitesh Sharma, who smashed 27 off 17 balls, the result was a foregone conclusion in South Africa’s favour as the visitors secured a superb series-levelling win.

Brief scores:

South Africa 213/4 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 90, Donovan Ferreira 30 not out; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-29, Axar Patel 1-27) beat India 162 all out in 19.1 overs (Tilak Varma 62, Jitesh Sharma 27; Ottniel Baartman 4-24, Marco Jansen 2-25) by 51 runs

nr/bsk/

- IANS