India vs South Africa | South Africa tour of India, 2025 | 2nd ODI

Right then, after a couple of high-scoring encounters and the series level at 1-1, we move into the summit clash. The 3rd and final ODI will be played in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, 6 December. It is another ground that generally sees bigger scores and it should be a fascinating contest. That game will begin at 1.30 pm IST (8 am GMT) but you can join us a lot sooner for the build-up. Cheers!

Aiden Markram is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his fine century. Aiden starts by saying that it was a bit of a challenge early on but he needed to get in the game and everyone knew that the middle order had a lot of prowess and it showed. Adds that once he and Temba Bavuma felt they were set, they decided to play their shots and that was also the case with Matthew Breetzke and says that he is proud of the boys who took them over the line. Reckons that they have 8 really good batters and Keshav Maharaj can also do a job with the bat, and is happy that the middle order continues to put their hand up but it is now time for the top order to fire a bit more.

The captain of South Africa, Temba Bavuma says he is happy to have crossed the line and that the team came into this game thinking about how they could improve. He feels the top three set a much better platform this time, with Aiden Markram and Matthew Breetzke carrying the innings well and Corbin Bosch showing great maturity. Overall, he believes it was a much better showing from the batting group. He calls it an unbelievable game and says it shows just how well they need to play to come out on top against this Indian side. Shares that the plan between him and Markram was to take the game deep, and the move to send Dewald Brevis in early worked in their favour. He adds that there is a lot of confidence the team can take going forward. Bavuma tells that the players here are undoubtedly the best available, and the competition within the squad is at a very high level. Further says that with Quinton de Kock also coming back into the mix, the batters know they are scrambling for places, and both batters and bowlers understand they have to be at their best to hold onto their spots. States that Tony de Zorzi and Nandre Burger do not look too good with their hamstring issues, and if needed, the team has other players ready to step in and do the job on Saturday.

The Indian skipper, KL Rahul, says that considering everything - the dew and how difficult it is to bowl second here, it wasn't a tough pill to swallow and the umpires were also kind enough to change the ball regularly. Jokes about losing the toss again but then goes on to say that they need to always think about what they could have done better. Reckons that even though they got 350, they could have got 20 more runs and the bowlers bowled well but the fielding needs to tighten up as well. Goes on to applaud the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli and says that both of them batted wonderfully and also adds that the tempo from Ruturaj was excellent. Rahul also says that he was slotted in at number 6 but given the situation, the coach and he himself felt it was the right time to walk in at number 5.

The Presentation ceremony...

South Africa's hero at the death, Corbin Bosch, is in for a chat. He says that he told Keshav Maharaj to stay calm and run hard, and that there was always a belief in the team that they could chase anything. Shares that the top order set it up beautifully, making it much easier for the rest of the guys to finish it off. Adds that the wicket felt quite sticky when the outfield was dry, but once the ball got wet, it became a lot easier to score in the dewy conditions.

Earlier in the game, Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bowl first on a surface that looked abrasive to begin with. However, India got off to a flier in the first Powerplay. South Africa did get a couple of wickets inside the first 11 overs but then came the monumental stand between Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad worth 195 runs. Both batters ended up getting a century but got out soon after and KL Rahul had to dig deep. Lungi Ngidi bowled really well in the middle phase and at the death but a half century from Rahul and a costly final over from Corbin Bosch took India past 350.

The likes of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh continued to fight with the ball for India but Corbin Bosch played a handy cameo and, with the help of an experienced Keshav Maharaj at the other end, took his side over the line, remaining unbeaten on 29 off just 15 balls. What a blessing it is to have someone like Corbin Bosch coming to bat at number 8.

Breetzke continued to keep a cool head but it was a quickfire half-century from Dewald Brevis at the other end that took South Africa into a position of power. Breetzke too notched up a 7th score of 50 or more in just 11 ODI innings. However, things changed quickly as the Proteas lost 3 wickets in the space of 4 overs and then Tony de Zorzi got retired hurt as well. At that time, it looked like one more wicket could get India well on top of proceedings.

Prasidh Krishna snaffled Bavuma just 4 runs short of his fifty but Matthew Breetzke came in and played an anchoring knock as Markram kept on peppering the bowlers. Markram notched up a ton but got out and India seemed to be pushing the required rate up for some time thanks to Rana's little spell in the middle phase.

Chasing a massive total of 359, South Africa began watchfully and lost Quinton de Kock in the process as well. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana both were bowling well but Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma fought back with a century stand as the Indian spinners couldn't quite get into the game.

An absolute humdinger of a contest but in the end, it is South Africa who win the game and level the series at 1-1. India fought well against the dew but couldn't find enough consistency with the ball to take them over the line. Just the 3rd time South Africa have chased a target in excess of 350 runs and it is just the second time India have failed to defend a target of 350 or more.

3 needed off the final over. It should be Prasidh Krishna to bowl the final over but you never know. Ravindra Jadeja also has overs up his sleeve. It will be Prasidh. Can he conjure up something magical?