In the second Twenty20 International, the Proteas chased down a revised 152-run target in Gqeberha. Aiden Markram's South Africa side defeated the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian team by five wickets. In the rain-shortened game, the hosts were asked to chase 152 runs in 15 overs, but they reached the target in 13.5 overs, helped along by players like Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram.
The Indian bowlers had a bad outing as they were taken to cleaners and found it difficult to bowl well in the second innings when the conditions were batting-friendly. In his reflections on the defeat against Proteas, India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav said that the hosts batted brilliantly during the run-chase.
Suryakumar Yadav lauds South Africa's approach
Sharing his thoughts about the South African chase during 2nd Innings, the Indian skipper said, "At the halfway stage, I thought it was a par score but they batted beautifully in the first 5-6 overs and took the game away from us. It was the brand of cricket we were talking about, just go out and express ourselves. It was tough with the wet ball, but we would face similar situations in the future and it's a good learning for us. Looking forward to the third T20I."
Chasing 152 in 15 overs, Reeza Hendricks and Matthew Breetzke gave the Proteas batters a blistering start and soon Aiden Markram teamed up with Hendricks to ruin India's hopes of defending the target. The Proteas batters split the workload of the target. The middle of the innings saw three quick wickets to add some spice, but the required rate ensured that the Proteas would always be ahead of the Indians. With seven balls and five wickets remaining, the hosts won the second match of the 3-match T20I series and took a lead of 1-0 as the first match was washed out due to rain.