IND vs SA, 2nd ODI | Who said what ft. Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer
India managed a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the second ODI against South Africa courtesy of a brilliant partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. After the match, the duo revealed they were in the mood to score big while Shikhar Dhawan made a cheeky remark about the rival captain.
Following South Africa's dominant win in the first match of the series, India bounced back in style at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium with a seven-wicket victory. The Proteas were without their skipper Temba Bavuma and pacer Lungi Ngidi, causing Keshav Maharaj to stand in as the captain, while India handed a debut to all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed. The visitors managed a par total of 278/7 but the Men in Blue rode on the back of Ishan Kishan's 93 and Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 113 to coast home with 25 balls to spare.
Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan had a witty remark ready after the match before lauding the top performers for their contributions.
The toss worked perfectly, I am glad. Thanks to Keshav that he chose to bat (laughs). I must say that Ishan and Shreyas, the way they created that partnership was great to watch... I am very pleased with the bowlers, especially Shahbaz, the way he bowled in the first ten overs and got us the breakthrough.
Maharaj admitted his misjudgment as the reason behind his decision to bat first.
I think we didn't expect the dew to play such a big part, that's why we opted to bat after we won the toss. But credit to Shreyas and Sanju. We expected it to get slower and lower but after 20 overs the pitch got better.
Local boy Kishan admitted he took some comments to heart which inspired a flamboyant knock and the consequent dominant victory.
I heard people talking that we are the B-side, we are not so much capable of beating South Africa's full strength side. I heard these comments and we're really upset about it, so we wanted to play our A-game today. We lost the first game and we wanted to win this badly so that we can give a fight in the next one. Hopefully, we will win the next game also.
His 93 was laced with four boundaries and seven maximums. The Jharkhand batter came under some criticism for relying on big shots instead of rotating the strike but the youngster reasserted his brand of cricket with his quotes after the game.
Unfortunate that I missed on the hundred but happy that my team won the game. It was not easy for a new batsman to score the runs. It was a matter of putting the pressure on the other team also, that we are ready to put away if they missed their mark... Not many people can hit sixes like me, I can do that easily. Hitting sixes is my strength, when I can go about doing my job through big shots, I do not think about rotating the strike then. There would be times when I would be required to rotate the strike, so practice for that is also paramount. But if the ball is there, and my strength is hitting six, so I should not force myself to rotate the strike...You feel bad when you miss a hundred, but next time when I am in a similar situation, I will try to not miss the hundred.
Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, struck his second ODI hundred and appeared fired up on the back of a good run of scores, especially in the 50-over format.
I am ecstatic, to be honest. When I went in to bat, I spoke to Ishan and he was in the mindset to take on the bowlers. So we decided to play the ball on merit and see how it goes. Tomorrow is a travel day and then the day after another match. Motivated for that, let's see what's in store for me and the team," he stated. Iyer also won the Player of the Match award after India drew level in the three-match series...I am not someone who changes according to the bowler. I am someone who changes on the instinct. It's not something I try in the nets first, I change it in the match itself.
As for the Proteas, Reeza Hendricks starred with a 76-ball 74 in his first match of the tour, establishing a 129-run stand with Aiden Markram (79 off 89 deliveries).
Nice to get out there and contribute to the team. I would have loved to get to three figures but will take the contribution. It was nice to bat with Aiden and to set up a good score. We got out at the wrong time, should have pushed to be at the end. We were thinking at least 285 and 300 was on the cards if one of us stayed through. They bowled well at the end. It was a tricky wicket, not easy for a new batter. We did not have the game to get to 300. I know this is my best performance, I can do better. There are a lot of players in our main team who are in good form. I will wait for my time, and it is about me having that self-belief whenever I get that opportunity.
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