Rinku Singh sizzling unbeaten 68 went in vain as South Africa beat India by five wickets in the DLS method in the second T20I at the St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
After being sent into bat, Marco Jansen drew first blood by snaring Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first over, caught at backward point by David Miller for a duck.
Shubman Gill was then trapped leg before wicket by Lizaad Williams, as the hosts slumped to 6/2.
The pair of Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav resurrected the innings with a 49 run stand for the third wicket before the former was caught at deep third man by Jansen off Gerald Coetzee for 29.
Skipper Suryakumar featured in yet another crucial 70 run stand for the fourth wicket alongside Rinku Singh before Tabraiz Shamsi broke the stand by dismissing the former caught at long off by Jansen for a 36 ball-56.
Rinku Singh provided a late flourish in the end by scoring a swashbuckling unbeaten 39 ball-68 to take India to 180/7 in 19.3 overs before rain halted play. The innings couldn’t be completed and as a result South Africa were given a revised target of 152 in 15 overs.
In response, Reeza Hendricks and Matthew Breetzke got the visitors off to a blistering start. The pair added 42 runs in just 2.5 overs before the latter was run out following a mix up while attempting a second run for 16.
Hendricks along with skipper Aiden Markram featured in a 54 run stand for the second wicket before the latter miscued a short ball off Mukesh Kumar to Mohammed Siraj at deep square leg for 30. Hendricks fell one short of his half-century, chipping Kuldeep Yadav to Yadav at cover.
Heinrich Klaasen fell soon after to Mohammed Siraj for 7. David Miller scored a 12 ball-17, before being caught at deep backward square leg by Siraj off Mukesh Kumar. The pair of Tristan Stubbs (14*) and Andile Phehlukwayo (10*) combined to take the Proteas past the finish line in 13.5 overs.
South Africa take a 1-0 lead, with the first match being abandoned without a ball being bowled.