Mohammed Siraj kicked off the chase with an ominous jaffa-replete maiden before Mukesh Kumar got rid of Matthew Breetzke in the ensuing over. Two more wickets ensued in the powerplay and with the ball beginning to turn under the lights, the Indian spinners made light work of the Proteas unit. Ravindra Jadeja, standing in for skipper Suryakumar Yadav after the centurion had to leave the field with an ankle injury, scalped two while birthday-boy Kuldeep Yadav snagged five in under three overs to end with dreamy figures of 5/17. David Miller top-scored for the hosts with 35 and was the last to fall in the 14th over as South Africa collapsed for 95, thus having to contend with a levelled series heading into the three ODIs.

‌After being asked to bat first, India began with a flurry of boundaries with both openers Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal striking three each in the first two overs. Keshav Maharaj's double blow in the third over to get rid of Gill and Tilak Varma threatened to put a brake on proceedings but Jaiswal remained undeterred, propelling the team to 62/2 by the end of the powerplay enroute to a 34-ball half-century. Suryakumar Yadav, meanwhile, trotted along to a tame 26 off 24 deliveries at the halfway stage with spinners operating efficiently on a slightly two-paced deck, allowing Maharaj to finish with excellent figures of 2/26. However, he inevitably broke the shackles with a brutal takedown of Andile Phehlukwayo, smashing him for three sixes and a boundary in the 13th over. The rest was history, as the 33-year-old equaled Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell's record for most T20I centuries with his fourth, the 55-ball ton featuring seven fours and eight maximums. Nevertheless, four wickets in the last two overs helped the Proteas restrict the Men in Blue to a respectable 201/7.