Cuttack(Odisha): Knocks by Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, backed by a cameo of Dinesh Karthik guided India to a respectable total of 148/6 in the first innings of the second T20I against South Africa, here at the Barabati Stadium on Sunday. For South Africa, Anrich Nortje scalped two wickets while Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, and Keshav Maharaj took one wicket each.
Put to bat first, India started off on a horrible note with Kagiso Rabada sending Ruturaj Gaikwad back to the dugout on the fifth delivery of the innings, with only three runs on the board. Shreyas Iyer came to the crease with Ishan Kishan and the duo tried to anchor the innings for some time and smashed 42 runs in the powerplay.
The Proteas got another breakthrough in the 7th over, when Ishan was caught by Rassie Van der Dussen on Anrich Nortje's delivery and departed after scoring 34 off 21 balls. Shreyas was joined by skipper Rishabh Pant, who fell prey to Keshav Maharaj's spell after scoring five runs, in the 10th over, leaving India's total at 68/3.
It was followed by Hardik Pandya's dismissal in the 13th over after he was bowled by Wayne Parnell. In the very next over, Dwaine Pretorius also showed Shreyas, the way to the dugout after he scored 40 runs off 35 balls, with India's score at 98/5.
Axar Patel and Dinesh Karthik joined hands at the crease but the duo could not last long as the former got bowled out by Nortje in the 17th over. Harshal Patel came to the crease and along with a strong stand with Karthik, changed the momentum of the game.
Karthik smashed 31 runs off 21 balls while Harshal scored 12 runs off 9 balls and took India's total to 148/6, at the end of the first innings. The Proteas now need 149 in 120 balls to claim the second victory in the five-match T20I series.
Brief scores: India 148/6 (Shreyas Iyer 40, Ishan Kishan 34; Anrich Nortje 2/36) vs South Africa.
