The second game of the T20I series between India and South Africa will be played at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday, June 12. South Africa currently leads the five-match series by a 1-0 margin.

The first game of the series was a high-scoring affair. Neither side gave up and it went down to the wire as the Proteas held their nerves to finish on the winning side by seven wickets.

South African skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and opted to bowl first. On the back of a half-century from Ishan Kishan, India posted 211 on the board, losing four wickets.

It was a daunting task to chase down this mammoth total. The visitors had a steady start to the chase as the Indian bowlers bowled brilliantly upfront. Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller joined hands to put up a solid unbeaten stand of 131 runs to guide their side across the line with five balls to spare.

The hosts leaked runs in the death overs that led to their downfall. They will be hoping for a much-improved performance in the second game to level the series.

INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA MATCH DETAILS:

Match: India vs South Africa, 2nd T20I, South Africa tour of India, 2022
Date and Time: June 12, 2022, Sunday, 07:00 PM IST
Venue: Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA PITCH REPORT

The pitch at the Barabati Stadium is a balanced track. The new ball comes nicely onto the bat and the batters can hit through the line. The surface might get slower as the game progresses and the spinners might come into play in the latter stages of the match.

INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA WEATHER FORECAST

The conditions will be ideal for a game of cricket. The temperature in Cuttack on Sunday is expected to hover between 28 and 38 degrees Celsius. It will stay humid throughout the day.

INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA PROBABLE XI

INDIA

Ishan Kishan led the charge with the bat at the top of the order as he scored 76 in the first T20I. A cameo from Hardik Pandya (31* off 12 balls) powered them to 211. The bowlers only managed to scalp three wickets and failed to defend the total.

PROBABLE XI

Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel/Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan

SOUTH AFRICA

In the first T20I, the bowlers were expensive as they conceded 211 in their 20 overs, picking up four wickets in total. The fifties from Rassie van der Dussen (75*) and David Miller (64*) helped them chase down the total in the last over.

PROBABLE XI

Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje

PROBABLE TOP PERFORMERS

PROBABLE THE BEST BATTER OF THE MATCH 

ISHAN KISHAN

Ishan Kishan, after a good run with Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, scoring 418 runs at an average of 32.15 with three fifties, carried his form into the first T20I game against South Africa with a knock of 76 runs, which was the highest score in the game. He is expected to score more runs going forward with the kind of touch he is in.

PROBABLE THE BEST BOWLER OF THE MATCH 

YUZVENDRA CHAHAL

Yuzvendra Chahal is yet to make a mark in the series so far, having bowled only 2.1 overs in the first game. But the leg-spinner was the leading wicket-taker in the IPL 2022 with 27 wickets, including a five-wicket haul, with an economy rate of 7.75. He is expected to pick a few wickets on the tricky Cuttack surface against the Proteas. 

INDIA VS SOUTH AFRICA MATCH PREDICTION

The South Africans were brilliant in the first game of the series as they chased down a mammoth total of 212. They will be brimming with confidence coming into this game and the Indian side need to be at their absolute best to challenge them. The hosts need to fire in unison to level the series.

South Africa looks like a settled unit and have the winning momentum behind them. They are expected to come out on top on Sunday.

Prediction: South Africa to win this encounter.