Big hitting from South Africa’s top-order batters helped them to beat India by 5 wickets in a rain-hit second T20I on Tuesday. South Africa chased down the target of 152 in just 13.5 overs as its opener Reeza Hendricks played a superb knock of 27-ball 49. The Proteas’ captain Aiden Markram produced a fine cameo of 30 and other batters also scored runs quickly to win the game with ease. South Africa goes ahead in the series (1-0) while India will now look to come back stronger and level it in the final T20I, which will be played on December 14, Thursday.

Bowling first, South Africa had a terrific start as Marco Jansen and Lizaad Williams dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill for a duck. However, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav steadied the Indian innings with a much-needed partnership of 49 runs. Varma departed for 29 while Indian captain Suryakumar went on to hit his half-century.

Suryakumar (56) became the fastest batter to complete 2000 runs (in 1164 balls) in the T20Is. Rinku Singh produced a stunning effort with the bat and rained boundaries. An aggressive batting from Rinku powered him to reach his maiden half-century in T20I. Rinku remained unbeaten on 68 while Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with 19. Rain made an appearance with three balls left in the final over and the players rushed back into the dressing room with India’s score reading 180/7 in 19.3 overs.

In reply, South Africa ended up wreaking havoc on the Indian bowlers, with their top order of Matthew Breetzke (16), Hendricks, and Markram hammering them all over St George’s Park. India made a strong recovery by dismissing Hendricks, Markram, and Heinrich Klaasen in a short period, but the visitors still faced an uphill battle. South Africa hung in there and eventually won.