The second ODI between South Africa and India was played in Gqeberha on December 19, 2023. India had decimated the hosts in the 1st match in Johannesburg and Proteas needed to win this encounter to keep the series alive.
Aiden Markram’s luck with the coin continued to shine as he won the toss and chose to bowl on a bouncy pitch with a lot for the bowlers. Both sides had some changes as Beuran Hendricks replaced Andile Phehlukwayo in the South Africa XI, while Rinku Singh made his ODI debut, replacing Shreyas Iyer in the India XI.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed early by Nandre Burger, who also got rid of Tilak Varma for 10. However, Sai Sudharsan continued his good form and hit 62 with 1 six and 7 fours. He added 68 runs for the third wicket with captain KL Rahul who made 56 with 7 fours.
But when Sudharsan fell to Lizaad Williams and Rahul was dismissed by Burger, Indian batting crumbled from there on. India only managed to post 211 in 46.2 overs as Arshdeep Singh made 18 and Rinku Singh made 17 on debut.
Nandra Burger took 3/30, while Beuran Hendricks and Keshav Maharaj took two wickets each.
In response, Reeza Hendricks (52 with 7 fours) and Tony de Zorzi added 130 runs for the first wicket. While Hendricks fell to Arshdeep Singh, De Zorzi continued to haunt the Indian batters, adding 76 runs with Rassie van der Dussen. Van der Dussen fell to Rinku Singh, becoming his maiden ODI wicket for 36 runs.
On the other hand, Tony de Zorzi completed his maiden ODI hundred in 109 balls and took South Africa to a brilliant win by 8 wickets. He remained unbeaten on 119 runs with 9 fours and 6 sixes as South Africa reached the target in 42.3 overs.
With this win, South Africa leveled the series 1-1. The third and deciding ODI will be played on December 21 in Paarl.
BRIEF SCORES:
IND 211 (S SUDHARSAN 62, KL RAHUL 56; N BURGER 3/30) lost to SA 215/2 (T DE ZORZI 119*, R HENDRICKS 52) by 8 wickets with 45 balls remaining.
Three-match ODI series level 1-1 with one match to go.
