South Africa finally ended India’s 11-match winning streak in the T20I format with a thrilling three-wicket win in the second T20I of the four-match series at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Sunday, November, 10. With this, the Proteas leveled the series by 1-1 with two matches to go. The third T20I of the series will be played at SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium in Centurion on November 13.
This was India’s only second loss in the T20I format in 2024. The current world T20 champions won’t be much affected by one loss but need to make a few changes in their game plan to get back to their winning ways in the third T20I in Centurion. In the following listicle, we will have a look at three reasons why India lost the second T20I against South Africa in Gqeberha.
Why India lost second T20I against South Africa?
Batting failure and middle-order collapse
One of the main reasons for India’s loss in the second T20I was a batting failure and collapse in the middle-order. However, India also had a collapse in the first match, but it was overshadowed by Sanju Samson’s century. As Samson went for a duck in the second game, rest of the batters also couldn’t contribute much as India could post only 124/6 in their 20 overs.
Failed to change gears and take singles in death overs
Even after losing six wickets under 100 runs, India still had a chance to go near 130 to 140-run mark with Hardik Pandya still at the crease. His batting partner Arshdeep Singh also showed his capability by hitting a monstrous 95-meter six. However, looking to hit every ball for a boundary in death overs, Pandya avoided running between the wickets and ended up scoring just six runs off the last 10 balls of the innings.
Axar Patel bowled only one over where spinners were shining
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav missed a trick by giving Axar Patel just one over in the second game, whereas other spinners showed impressive performance. Varun Chakravarthy registered his career-best figures of 5/17 and brought India back in the game, while Ravi Bishnoi also took a wicket conceding just 21 in his four overs. Axar Patel bowled the 10th over of the innings and conceded just two runs with Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs at the crease. After that, the left-arm didn’t bowl a single ball for the rest of the match.