South Africa level series after de Kock special; Gill, SKY misfire again

The lean run of Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav was extended as Indian batters stumbled on a good batting surface to lose the second T20 against South Africa by 51 runs here on Thursday.

Quinton de Kock made an effortless 90 of 46 balls, pushing South Africa to a challenging 213 for four after India opted to field.

India were expected to chase down the steep target but South Africa removed Indian trio of Abhishek Sharma (17), Gill (0) and Suryakumar Yadav (5) inside the powerplay to put the hosts on the backfoot. India were eventually bowled out for 162 in 19.1 overs with Tilak Varma (62 off 34) playing a lone hand.

The five match series now stands at 1-1 with the third match scheduled in Dharamsala on December 14.

The local crowd was expecting their home heroes, Gill and Abhishek, to fire but it was not to be.

Yet to realise his potential in the shortest format, vice-captain Gill, facing his very first ball, got a beauty from Lungi Ngidi that seamed away from length to take a thick outside edge.

Abhishek was caught behind in the following over from Marco Jansen. Next to depart was skipper Suryakumar who too got a faint edge after Jansen angled it away from the India skipper.

Batting at three, Axar Patel (21 off 21) was pouched at cover with Reeza Hendricks just about managing to have his fingers under the ball.

From thereon, Tilak batted at a high tempo but lack of partnerships and soaring run rate pushed the game out of India's reach.

Earlier, de Kock entertained the crowd with his remarkable strokeplay.