South Africa vs India, 2nd T20I Stats Review: Rinku Singh’s maiden half-century, Suryakumar Yadav’s feat and other stats

Seamer Gerald Coetzee picked up figures of 3/32 while opening batter Reeza Hendricks smashed 49 off just 27 as South Africa defeated Team India by a margin of five wickets (DLS method) in the second T20 international at St.George’s Park in Gqeberha. With this, the home side has now taken a 1-0 lead in the series with the third and final game scheduled to be played on Thursday, December 14, in Johannesburg.

Speaking about how the match panned out, the visitors batted first and posted a big total of 180/7 on the board in 19.3 overs before the rain interrupted the fixture. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill both bagged a duck while Tilak Varma hit 29 off 20. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was at his T20 best yet again as he slammed 56 off just 36 with five fours and three maximums.

But it was Rinku Singh who stole the show with his maiden half-century in the format. The left-handed middle-order player struck 68 off 39 with nine fours and two sixes. Barring Andile Phehlukwayo, every African bowler picked up a wicket as they restricted the tourists to 180. In reply, opener Matthew Breetzke played a cameo of 16 off seven before getting run out. Captain Aiden Markram scored a quickfire 30 off 17 which included four fours and a maximum. Tristan Stubbs and Phehlukwayo remained not out on 14 and 10 respectively to guide their side to a victory with seven balls to spare.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from the 2^nd T20I between South Africa and India:

2041 – Suryakumar Yadav completed the landmark of 2000 runs in T20 internationals. He became the fourth Indian to achieve the feat after Virat Kohli (4008), Rohit Sharma (3853) and KL Rahul (2265).

56 – Suryakumar is now the joint-fastest Indian with Kohli to reach the milestone of 2000 runs in the 56^th T20I innings.

2 – For the second time, both Indian openers got dismissed for a duck in a T20 international. The previous instance took place against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2016 in Mirpur where Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane bagged a duck each.

8 – Shubman Gill has eight single-digit scores in his 12 T20 international matches.

60.75 – Suryakumar has struck 243 runs in five innings at an average of 60.75 and four half-centuries against South Africa in the shortest international format.

4 – Destructive player Suryakumar is now joint-top with Jonny Bairstow, Mohammad Rizwan, and David Warner for smashing the most 50-plus scores (four) against the Proteas in this format.

2016 – Tilak Varma reached the milestone of 2000 runs in T20 cricket.

7 – Rinku Singh smashed his maiden half-century in his seventh T20I innings.

6 – Suryakumar is now joint-top with Sikandar Raza for hitting the most 50-plus scores (six) amongst the full-members in T20Is in 2023.