George Linde’s 25-ball 52 was in vain as South Africa A suffered a two-wicket defeat at the hands of India A at the Greenfield International Stadium on Saturday.
After the match was reduced to 21-overs a side, India A won the toss and sent SA A into bat.
The hosts’ decision paid dividends immediately as they saw the backs of Janneman Malan (6) and first-match centurion Reeza Hendricks (1) respectively inside the first four overs.
Though cameos from Bavuma (40) and keeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen kept the scoreboard ticking, the innings was characterised by the loss of untimely wickets.
Linde’s swashbuckling innings, however, ensured that he and his fellow bowlers had something to bowl at. With his side precariously placed at 75-4 in the 13th over, the slow left-armer took the attack to the Indian bowlers – clearing the rope no fewer than five times while adding in a four for good measure as he lifted his side to a respectable total of 162-5 in their allotted overs.
In contrast to their Indian counterparts, the South African bowlers toiled without any real success. The bowlers’ economy-rates tells the story of a chase made all too easy – Beuran Hendricks was the most economical bowler yet even he went at a costly 6.66 runs to the over.
That said, a bright spot from a South African perspective was that all of the bowlers got amongst the wickets.
Handy contributions throughout the India chase – most notably from Ishan Kishan (55) and Amolpreet Singh (30) helped India survive a late-innings wobble which saw them lose three wickets in seven balls as they eventually got over the line with an over to spare.
South Africa A will hope to resurrect their hopes of a series victory in the third encounter of the five-match series on Monday.
Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
