India vs South Africa 2022: 2nd ODI – Who Said What

After suffering a defeat in the first ODI encounter, team India made a resounding comeback in the second ODI match played at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium Complex, Ranchi on October 9 (Sunday). 

Batters Shreyas Iyer and local lad Ishan Kishan were the chief scorers for the Indian side as they completed an easy chase. Pacer Mohammed Siraj also bowled excellently as he took three crucial wickets for his team. The wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson also remained unbeaten after his knock of 30 runs. 

The skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill  gave a perfect start to the Men in Blue but both of them got dismissed after getting a decent start. However, that didn't matter much as the home team chased down a total of 279 runs in 45.5 overs.

Earlier in the match, Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram were the prominent contributors to South Africa's total of 278 runs. Senior batter David Miller also played well as he chipped in with 35 runs but he was not at his best. Klaasen also played a crucial knock of 30 runs but his innings came to end after Kuldeep Yadav got the better of him. 

Winning skipper, Shikhar Dhawan said:

Worked perfectly well for us, thanks to Keshav that he chose to bat (smiles). Glad that dew came in at the right time. Ishan and Shreyas batted so well, that partnership was so nice to watch. It was coming on nicely, but it stayed low. Plan was to take on the bowlers in the first 10 overs as we knew it could get difficult in the middle overs. When the dew came, you could see that it got easier. Very satisfied with the bowling unit, they are all young and these are good learnings for them. Especially Shahbaz. All the young boys, I'm so proud that they showed so much maturity.

Losing skipper Keshav Maharaj said:

We didn't expect dew to be such a factor here, that's why we opted to bat. We tried what we could, Shreyas and Kishan played very well. We thought the track will get slower and lower as the game progressed. But it got easier to bat after the 30th over due to the soft ball and dew that came on.

Player of the match Shreyas Iyer said:

When I went into bat, felt that the wicket was playing good. The talk between me and Ishan was to play the ball on merit, build a partnership. Tomorrow is going to be a travel day, and then the match. Let's see what is in store for me (regarding his fitness for next game). I'm not someone who changes according to the bowler. I am someone who changes on instinct and believing in myself.