By: Tarish Bhatt
India skipper MS Dhoni delivered a fitting answer in response to the questions raised about his batting form and captaincy prowess in the 2nd ODI. And, the series-leveling win in the last game would have boosted India’s confidence for the remaining matches of the five-match series.
India vs South Africa 2nd ODI Live Streaming Information:
The India vs South Africa 3rd ODI is scheduled for a 13:30 IST (08:00 GMT) start at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot. Viewers can catch the match live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Willow TV & Sky Sports 3, with live streaming option HERE, HERE and HERE. The live score updates of the 2nd T20 will be available HERE, HERE and HERE.
Nothing seems to be going India’s way right from the T20 series, as despite coming within touching distance of ending the winning drought, they were failing to deliver the knockout punch. In the 2nd ODI, however, the confidence rubbed into the Indian team and they managed to chock South Africa, defending an under-par total.
“It is a very good victory for us to start off,” MS Dhoni said. “We were really into the game in the first T20I in Dharamsala but were not able to win it. The same thing happened in the last game that we played in Kanpur.
“A lot of times you play good cricket, maybe 80 or 90 percent, but it depends whether that 10 percent of the bad phase that you had in the game, how bad it turns out to be,” he added.
“It depends what was the timing of that particular error that can have a big impact on the game. I think this win was very important for us,” the India captain concluded about the win.
MS Dhoni did play a match-winning knock under pressure, when rest of the batsmen, apart from Ajinkya Rahane, faltered on a good batting pitch. Some lazy shots and unconvincing running cost India dearly and at one point it looked like they might not even play the whole 50 overs.
But, it was vintage Dhoni at display in the 2nd ODI, and he played a captain’s knock to give his team a fighting chance of defending the total. In the 3rd ODI as well, the hosts would be needing a similar effort from the Captain Cool, as he is the only one seems to be in form, alongwith Ajinkya Rahane.
No one would have given India much of a chance despite Dhoni’s super effort with the bat, seeing the form of Indian bowlers, but they too were in their elements and never allowed South Africa to run away with the game.
Spinners – Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh – were brilliant to say the least, while pacers led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept the pressure on. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in particular, whipped off South Africa tail in no time, and India would be hoping for a similar effort from him in the upcoming encounter.
“The spinners bowled well on a pitch where there was less assistance for them but they were still able to bowl good line and lengths and got early wickets which were crucial,” MS Dhoni said. “Later on, the fast bowlers took wickets at crucial intervals.”
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