India slumps to second straight defeat

India suffered yet another loss in South Africa as the Indian batsmen had no clue whatsoever to the pace attack of the hosts. India lost the second match in Durban by 134 runs which was reduced to 49 overs due to wet conditions of the outfield. Dale Steyn and Lonwabo Tsotsobe made use of the conditions as they rattled the Indian batting line-up with pace and bounce. At the end of the day Steyn had 3 wickets beside his name while Tsotsobe picked up 4. They were well supported by Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander as they kept the Indians under pressure. Suresh Raina was the top scorer for the Indians with 36. Ajinkya Rahane who came in as a replacement for Yuvraj Singh also failed to perform.

Earlier in the day, India won the toss and decided to field first. The Indian pace attack did bowl well and they might consider themselves a touch unlucky for not picking up early wickets. Once the early threat was wiped away by Quinton De Kock and Hashim Amla, it was easy the Protean openers. Man-of-the-match De Kock (106) completed his second hundred in as many matches in the series as Amla (100) also scored a hundred to put SA in a very good condition to set a huge total for the Indians to chase. Amla on his way to his hundred reached the 4000-run mark and became the fastest in the world overtaking Vivian Richards to reach the landmark. However the SA batsmen could not capitalize on the platform set by the openers as they failed to cross the 300-run mark. But a late assault from Ryan Mclaren and Vernon Philander saw the hosts reach the 280-run mark. Mohammad Shami was yet again the pick of the Indian bowlers as he finished with figures of 8-0-48-3.

The South Africans have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match ODI series. With the series already out of hand, the Indians should look forward to put up some resistance to such fiery bowling. A good performance in the final ODI will lift the confidence of the team that which will come to great use in the test series where a tougher test awaits for 0the inexperienced Indian side.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.