Image: Aiden Markram vs India during 2nd ODI / © Twitter
Unfortunately, that score was not enough to fend off dew as South Africa surpassed that total, thus maintaining a shut-out of a half-filled stadium and creating a “Decider” between both teams in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Aiden Markram scored his first century chasing in an ODI and led Aiden Markram’s chase for South Africa. Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis were the heroes for South Africa, who defeated India in the process thanks to last night’s highly humid dewy conditions. This chase is now tied for the highest successful chase against India in men’s ODI history and is South Africa’s third highest successful chase.
Even with Dewald Brevis dismissed on 54 runs from 34 balls after reaching his first ODI fifty, South Africa had a solid chance to win and were in control with only needing 70 more runs (70 off 57) and six wickets remaining. However, as quickly as South Africa took the lead, they lost it when Matthew Beetzke and Marco Jansen were dismissed back to back in the following two overs. Thus, as soon as Jansen was dismissed from long off, South Africa only needed 37 more runs with Jansen at the wicket and with just four wickets left. After the 45th over and with Tony de Zorzi limping off with a potential hamstring injury, South Africa’s chances suddenly took a new twist. Tony de Zorzi joins Nandre Burger, who had previously injured his hamstring and left the field earlier in the innings.
South Africa required 27 runs from a maximum of 30 balls to win this eighth ODI match of the Rainbow Nation Series. With Corbin Bosch attacking and Keshav Maharaj remaining composed and calm, they accomplished their mission while leaving the batsmen from India wondering what may have been.
India faced several obstacles during the match. An example is when Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped Aiden Markram on 53 runs. Jaiswal found himself in an awkward side-on position, allowing the ball to go through his hands and over the boundary for six runs. After that, Markram was able to increase his momentum as he hit both Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja for sixes. He then scored a century off of 88 balls. Out of all of the centuries scored during the game, Markram’s was the most significant in determining the victor.
After asking to bat first, India scored 40 runs without losing any wickets in the fifth over, with 13 of those runs being conceded via extras. Both Burger and Lungi Ngidi (who subbed in for Ottniel Baartman) got the ball to swing, but were not very accurate bowling it. Burger, however, settled down well, getting Rohit Sharma out after nicking one behind for 14 runs from eight balls. In the tenth over, Jansen got Jaiswal out with a bouncer after he scored 22 runs. Jansen bowled who greeted Gaikwad with an even bouncier ball that rose right up around his head area. At first Gaikwad took his eye off the ball before putting up a defensive gloves position, gloving the ball over the keeper for four runs.
Gaikwad then settled into his innings hitting two paddle sweeps off Maharaj, and Kohli was already set to score on the other end having hit a six off Ngidi. Kohli then took off from the crease hitting a square of the wicket four off Bosch which Gaikwad had to duck for cover. When Markram over pitched him outside off stump, Kohli hit a flat-batted shot through to the covers.
Gaikwad equaled Kohli in every hit. He took Maharaj over the top with his shot after coming out of his crease and sent Bosch through the midwicket area, which excited Kohli on the other end. He moved from 50 to 100 runs in just 25 balls. It was Gaikwad’s 18th List A century as a non-opener, having been selected over Rishabh Pant and Tilak Varma, who are both natural middle-order batters, which showcased Gaikwad’s flexibility.
After Jansen bowled out Gaikwad (105 off 82) to end a 195-run 3rd wicket partnership, Kohli began to hit back-to-back centuries for himself; this is the 11th time he achieved this, making him the most successful player in the history of one-day internationals with back-to-back 100s. Ngidi then sent Kohli packing, as he was caught at mid-on attempting to advance in the 40th over for 102 off 93 balls. After Washington Sundar was run out with India at 289/5; however, when Rahul played at the end of the innings, India was able to score 350 runs. Rahul combined strength with creativity as he was not out on 66 runs off 43 balls. Jadeja did not succeed as well, managing to score an unbeaten 24 runs off 27 balls.
Unlike South Africa, who struggled to bowl effectively with the new ball during their innings, India’s bowlers performed well with the new ball. Arshdeep Singh bowled well in his first spell and was able to find some movement away from Quinton de Kock, who could not make a proper connection with the ball and was caught at mid-on for 8 runs after 11 balls. Harshit Rana continued to trouble Aiden Markram from multiple lengths, but he managed to negotiate the early overs and was able to provide a firm platform for South Africa’s pursuit of victory along with Temba Bavuma, who proved to be a dependable batting partner as the two put together a tremendous partnership of 101 runs for the second wicket, prior to Prasidh Krishna dismissing Bavuma via his bouncer delivery.
Markram attacked the Indian spinners, particularly Kuldeep Yadav, successfully countering their tactics. However, while batting at this point, Rana utilised a clever off-cutter delivery that beat Markram’s defence and resulted in him being dismissed. After Markram’s dismissal, South Africa’s youngsters Breetzke and Brevis built a powerful partnership and brought South Africa closer to their victory target. Breetzke added to his already impressive list of ODI performances, as this was his seventh score over 50 runs in just 11 innings. At the end, while both Breetzke and Brevis contributed to a late wobble for South Africa, Bosch maintained his cool and was partnered by Maharaj to ultimately see South Africa successfully win this match by four balls remaining.