CUTTACK: India and South Africa face off in the second Twenty20 International at Cuttack on Monday with the hosts facing a must-win situation.

Rohit Sharma’s superb 106 went in vain as the Proteas pulled off a thrilling final-over victory in Friday’s match at Dharamsala, thanks largely to J.P. Duminy‘s unbeaten 34-ball 68.

India will have rued their one-dimensional pace attack, as the lack of pace of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, and Sreenath Aravind meant that the South African openers had no problem getting them off to an excellent start. Despite India taking three quick wickets, some poor bowling at the death ensured that the Proteas came out on top

With only Sharma and Virat Kohli getting amongst the runs, India will want the rest of the batsmen to find their groove in the second game.

India are unlikely to make sweeping changes to the line-up, though Akshar Patel’s expe­nsive 22-run over at a crucial jun­c­ture might encourage the Indians to opt for one of the more experienced spin­ners is Amit Mishra or Harb­hajan Singh.

As for South Africa, Marchant de Lange, Chris Morris, and Imran Tahir were all taken apart. The option of Eddie Leie bowling at Cuttack will be tantalising for the visitors; he would be an ideal replacement for de Lange or Morris.

Published in Dawn, October 5th , 2015

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