Gqeberha, Nov 11
After leading South Africa to a three-wicket win over India in a thrilling second T20I at the St George's Park, young batter Tristan Stubbs said the one thing which worked in his favour to ace the chase was the run rate never becoming an uphill task.
In a chase of 125, South Africa were in early trouble as Varun Chakaravarthy picked a sensational 5-17, his career-best figures in T20Is. But Stubbs timed his acceleration to perfection and hit seven boundaries in his vital 47 not out to give South Africa a thrilling win with an over to spare, as the hosts' have now squared the four-match series 1-1.
It also helped Stubbs that he found an able partner in Gerard Coetzee (19 not out off nine balls) to stitch an unbroken stand of 42 runs for the eighth wicket. "Fortunately the run rate never got away from us. I had 30 in mind to get off the last three, and the dew came in to help us also. He (Coetzee) came in and said 'we can win this'."
"We were always two hits away, the crowd was behind us and it was amazing. It was my mum's birthday, 20-30 people came here last night to watch. It gives us momentum to take into the Highveld. This is my favourite place to play cricket. I was nervous, so I was trying to control by breathing," said Stubbs after the match ended.
After conceding 202 in the series opener in Durban, South Africa put out a disciplined bowling performance to restrict India to 124/6. "We bowled really well, ultimately it comes down to execution and we executed really well. Wanna keep taking the game on, sometimes when we lose wickets in a cluster, it doesn't look pretty. I'm fine, so far so good (on concussion and on-field bruise). Good to see the fire in the belly of the youngsters," said captain Aiden Markram.
India skipper Suryakumar said he was proud of the bowling performance, despite not having many runs to defend. "Of course in a T20 game you don't wanna get 120, but proud of the way we bowled. In a T20, someone getting a five-for defending 125 is incredible. Varun has been waiting for this for a long time, working hard on his bowling, and everyone enjoyed it. Two games to go, lot of entertainment left. 1-1 going into Jo'burg gonna be a lot of fun."