Team India set a target of 149 for South Africa in the second T20I at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday (June 12). The visitors lost three wickets in the powerplay overs owing to Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s splendid opening spell. At one time, it appeared that the hosts would triumph, but Heinrich Klassen’s blazing knock ensured that this was not the case.

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The Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma played the anchor’s role, scoring 35 off 30 balls even as wickets kept falling at the other end. Klassen came in the 6th over and made batting look easy on a pitch that no other batter could get going. He hammered the Indian bowlers all over the park as he registered his highest score in T20Is, slamming 81 off 46 balls before being dismissed. The job had been done by then.

“There’s a learning I can take from this game, will try better in the next game. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy chase, but we were confident. We knew we had to execute our plans, and we had to be clinical. We can use him (Miller) at 5 or 6. Klaasen is someone who can do the damage in a couple of balls. He (Klaasen) adds a lot of value to our batting. Whatever your role is, you need to execute as well as you can,” Bavuma said after the match.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave it his all in the chase, taking up four wickets, but he couldn't help his team win. Later, Bavuma praised him.

“It was a tricky chase, Bhuvi bowled well, he made the ball talk upfront. It could have been clinical towards the end, but we will take that. We really needed someone to take it deep. That’s the role I play in the game, to close it off,” he said further.

With this loss, the 'Men in Blue' have put themselves in a perilous position, as the 3rd T20I at the ACA-VDCA stadium would be a must-win game to stand a chance of winning the series.

(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)