Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan steer India to series-levelling win

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Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan steWith most of the regulars missing, the South Africa one-day series has been a good test of India’s bench strength.

The likes of Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Sanju Samson and Washington Sundar are at a crucial stage of their careers. They nurse the ambition of becoming part of the Rohit Sharma-captained side.er India to series-levelling win

Their display in the second one-dayer at the JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, on Sunday would have warmed the hearts of the home fans. After the bowlers fought well in the final 10 overs to restrict South Africa to 278/7, the batters put on a dazzling show to power India to a series-levelling seven-wicket win.

Shreyas Iyer provided proof of his ability to develop into a chase master with a superb unbeaten hundred while local favourite Ishan Kishan treated his home crowd to a stunning display of six-hitting during their highly entertaining third-wicket partnership of 161 runs (155 balls) to make light of achieving the target. Iyer remained 113 not out (111 balls, 15 fours) while Kishan hammered 93 (64 balls, 4 fours, 7 sixes).

There were positives in bowling as well. Siraj was the standout with 3/38. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed made a fine impression on debut with tidy bowling figures of 10-1-54-1 and Kuldeep Yadav too impressed (9-0-49-1). Shardul Thakur bowled well in patches. He delivered an excellent 47th over, conceding one run and picking up a wicket.

The win would be highly valued as it came against a full-strength South Africa side which is gunning for maximum points from the three games. They are languishing at No 11 in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League table.

Reeza Hendricks (74-76b, 9 fours, 1 six) and Aiden Markram (79—89b, 7 fours, 1 six) batted beautifully, sharing a run-a-ball partnership of 129 runs.

Chasing a stiff target, India were in some bother at 48/2. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan fell early and Shubhman Gill played a delightful cameo of 28 before offering a return catch to Kagiso Rabada.

There were some nervous faces in the Indian dug-out but Kishan and Iyer took over. The Mumbai batter was fluent from the start. In the middle of a fine run in one-day cricket which has got him three fifties in his last four innings, he continued with the same approach—calm with focus on risk-free shots.

Iyer’s second ODI century couldn’t have come at a better time. There has been scrutiny on his issues against short-pitched bowling. Though the Ranchi pitch didn’t offer much pace, his solid effort underlined Iyer’s ability to put behind those questions and focus on his strengths. He comfortably handled the short stuff by the pacers and was brilliant against the spinners. The cut was his most productive shot as he scored half his boundaries between point to third man.

Kishan was unlucky to miss out on a hundred, but he will be happy how he went about his innings. The diminutive ‘keeper-batter opened up with a square drive off Rabada before targetting his favoured leg-side. Most of his sixes came in the midwicket region, but there was a hit over long-off off spinner Bjorn Fortuin. The highlight of his play was the savage attack on the Anrich Nortje’s short balls in the 32nd over when he clubbed a four and two sixes off successive balls for a 16-run over.

“I am ecstatic, to be honest. When I went in to bat, I spoke to Ishan and he was in the mindset to take on the bowlers. So, we decided to play the ball on merit and see how it went,” said Iyer after being named Player-of-the-Match.

South Africa, who won the first ODI in Lucknow, were left to rue the inability to build on the work by Hendricks and Markram that had promised a 300-plus total. But India’s bowlers pulled things back, giving away only 57 runs in the last 10 overs.

From the 43rd over, the visitors didn’t get a four for 32 balls against Siraj, Sundar and Thakur. Siraj conceded just three runs in the final over. He had also provided the vital breakthrough by dismissing Hendricks in the 32nd over.

The final ODI will be played in Delhi on Tuesday.

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