IND VS RSA - 2nd T20I, South Africa tour of India, 2022

It might be the elephant in the politically complex South African dressing room. but let's address it -- Temba Bavuma really needs to sort his place out. His batting and his leadership have been found wanting in these two matches. India, meanwhile, know only too well that their batsmen need to get them at least 30 runs more than usual given how weakened their Bumrah-less bowling looks. That's all then for now, as I, Vineet Anantharaman, sign off on behalf of Raju Peethala, Hari Sadanandan and our scorer, Siva. Until Indore where we'll have cricket on the flattest pitch that ever existed, ta ta!!

KL Rahul | MoM: It does [feel satisfying on playing two contrasting knocks in the first two games]. It is important as an opener to understand what is required on a day and give it your best. It is the mindset I have always played in and will continue to do the same. Satisfying to test yourself in different conditions. Quite honestly, after the first two overs, the chat between me and Rohit was that the pitch was gripping. We thought 180-185 would be a good target. But the game surprises us. I am surprised I am getting the Man of the Match award, Surya should have gotten it. He changed the game. Having batted in the middle order, I have realized that it is difficult. DK doesn't always get too many balls to face, and he was phenomenal, and so were Surya and Virat. The back foot punch off the first ball set me up. When I play both sides of the wicket, I know my balance is good. It tells me my head is stable. The crowds always turn up in India. It has been a while since cricket has been played in full stadiums. Phenomenal to see.

Rohit Sharma | Winning captain: [On this batting approach] All of us came together and said it was what we wanted to do as a team. It might not come across at times, but we want to stick to it. What I have seen in the last 8-10 months is individuals putting their hand up and getting the job done for the team. Guys without too much experience did this as well. The team wants to play and bowl in a certain way and we want to give them that confidence. Yes, we have not bowled well at the death in the last five or six games. We are doing the same to the opposition as well. To bowl and bat at the death is very tough. That is where the game is decided. It is not concerning, but we need to pick ourselves and get our act together. I am thinking of not playing Surya anymore and play him directly on 23rd. This is how is game is and we just want to keep him happy.

Temba Bavuma | Losing captain: It probably wasn't our best performance with the ball. Different conditions and different plans were needed. Execution is our plans is where our conversation is going to be. With 220, we were thinking as batters would be good. But 240 was too high. It shows why David Miller is one of the best T20 batters going around. He is looking good, feeling good and we can draw a lot of confidence from his performance today. Their bowlers got the ball to swing at the top and once it stopped swinging, we saw how easy it was to bat.

Harsha Bhogle: Death bowling, even with so many in the bank, remains a problem.

Suryakumar Yadav: We were batting first, so it was very clear that I had to keep the tempo that was set by Rahul and Rohit and I just went and enjoyed myself. He (Miller) batted beautifully and I loved it. You just have to be planning really well when you are having the practice sessions (about second-guessing the bowlers). When you are batting first, you can't set a target and you just gotta bat as deep as possible and get as many runs as possible.

David Miller: Quinton obviously struggled upfront but he managed to bat through and give us a chance. He is a capable batter of hitting fours and sixes, so it was just about getting in. As you saw, we were just 16 runs short. He (De Kock) walked up to me (after the game) and said 'Well played, I'm sorry'. It was a great wicket, and India put us under pressure from the start. We had to go from ball one and the freedom allowed us to express ourselves. It is raining out here and has been a bit wet (humidity). Was just taking as much water as possible.

Harsha Bhogle: Phenomenal from Miller. What a player. In the arc and out of the park!

STAT: First bilateral series defeat for South Africa in seven series

Unbeaten hundreds in a losing run chase in T20Is
110* KL Rahul vs WI Lauderhill 2016
106* D Miller vs Ind Guwahati 2022

Most runs in death overs (16-20) in a T20I
160 Ind (82) vs SA (78) Guwahati 2022
148 Pak (73) vs Aus (75) Gros Islet 2010
145 Ind (80) vs Eng (65) Durban 2007

First T20I series win for India against South Africa at home
Lost 2-0 in 2015
Drew 1-1 in 2019
Drew 2-2 in 2022
Lead 2-0* in 2022

174* partnership by De Kock & Miller is the highest in the history of T20 Internationals for fourth wicket or below for any team

David Miller - first player to score multiple T20I hundreds batting at #5 or below
101*(36) vs Ban Potchefstroom 2017
106*(47) vs Ind Guwahati 2022

23:10 Local Time, 17:40 GMT, 23:10 IST: First things first: India have sealed yet-another bilateral series, and this this is India's first T20I series win against South Africa at home, ever! It's a big deal. It's not often that South Africa come into a series with a lot of expectations. But they did this time around. They were on a winning roll, they seemed to have had most boxes checked, they even came over early to prepare. But they've been totally and comprehensively rolled over. A cheap bundling out in Trivandrum, and now quite a pasting in Guwahati. This second innings was almost a formality. Bavuma looked completely at sea, Rossouw fell early, Quinton endured a painful stay, where he batted through the innings, but just couldn't get going. David Miller just kept swinging, kept connecting them off the middle, but alas, it was all too alone, and all too little against the mountain that India amassed. Still, although this 16-run margin suggests this one was quite close, in reality, it wasn't. The Proteas were never in it. They were merely playing catch up. Hang around for the presentations ..

Axar to de Kock, SIX, filthy full toss from round the wicket. Swung, connected, and dispatched over deep mid-wicket. A wierd little match this, nobody wants to celebrate, and everyone seems sad ..

Axar to de Kock, no run, sits, slogs, misses. Axar once again gets it fuller than the slot ball to sneak under QdK's bat

Axar to Miller, 1 run, yorker fired in on middle-stump. Axar should have done this a long time ago. Jammed down to long-on

Axar to Miller, SIX, a 46-ball blinder. Alone. Single-handed. In a lost cause all through -- David Miller, T20I century #2. And he does it with a hoick over cow corner

Axar to Miller, SIX, my word. My absolute word. This is a proper tonk, one-kneed, with the cleanest of strikes to send it 104 meters over long-on. 99 ..

Right, forget the match, focus on a possible Miller century. That's the only fun left.

Axar to de Kock, 1 run, flat, on the stumps, a backward-rocking slap down the ground