India vs South Africa 2015, 2nd Twenty20: Player Ratings

Ashwin was fighting a lone battle as he dismissed the South African Top 3 to initiate dreams of an Indian comeback but was let down by his fellow bowlers.

South Africa clinched the T20 series against India with a game to go after beating the hosts by six wickets in the 2nd T20I at Cuttack. The match marred by crowd trouble was a foregone conclusion after India, batting first, were bundled out for 92.

If it was the bowlers who let down India in the series opener at Dharamsala, it was the turn of the batsmen this time around as they failed to bat their quota of 20 overs after being yet again put into bat by South African skipper Faf du Plessis.

Credit should be given to the Proteas’ bowlers who were well backed by their fielding unit, while for India, it was yet again Ravichandran Ashwin, fighting a lone battle.

So how did the players from both teams fare on a scale of 1 to 10. Let’s take a look.

India

Shikhar Dhawan – 6 / 10

After an unfortunate run out in the 1st T20, Dhawan would have been hoping to provide the team a good start this time around. But once again, the southpaw failed to deliver as he played across the line only to be trapped right in front of the wickets off the bowling of Chris Morris.

Rohit Sharma – 7 / 10

Got an early boundary but looked to be troubled by the bounce in the pitch. Was involved in the mix-up that led to Kohli’s run out before running himself out attempting a non-existent single.

Virat Kohli – 5.5 / 10

There was no repeat of the brilliant partnership that Kohli and Rohit forged in the 1st T20 as a miscommunication led to Kohli being dismissed run out. The pair deliberated whether to go for the second run and Kohli found himself short of the crease as De Villiers collected Morris’ throw from the mid wicket boundary to clip the bails in time.

Suresh Raina – 7 / 10

The situation was tailor-made for Raina to produce a match winning knock but the 28-year-old never really looked convincing in his stay at the crease. Seemed troubled by the pace of Rabada and a googly by Tahir accounted for the left-hander at 22.

Ambati Rayudu – 5 / 10

If the 1st T20 saw Rayudu sacrifice his wicket in an attempt to bring back Dhoni on strike, today he virtually gifted a wicket to the visitors as he missed a full toss by Rabada and found his stumps castled by the South African youngster. Rayudu is yet to open his account in the series.

MS Dhoni – 6 / 10

The skipper’s ploy of moving himself down the order failed to pay dividends as he lost his wicket off a loose ball outside the off stump. The Indian cricket fans were hoping that his partnership with Raina would resurrect the innings but that was not to be.

Axar Patel – 6.5 / 10

Was largely ineffective with the bowl, though he did manage to get the wicket of Behardien towards the end and failed to chip in with the bat as well when India badly needed it.

Ravichandran Ashwin – 10 / 10

Yet again, the only bowler who looked like threatening the South African batsmen. He was fighting a lone battle as he dismissed the South African Top 3 to initiate dreams of an Indian comeback but was let down by his fellow bowlers.

Harbhajan Singh – 7.5 / 10

The veteran off-spinner bowled well on his comeback match restricting the South African scoring, but under the circumstances he failed to deliver in the stats that really mattered – wickets.

Mohit Sharma – 6 / 10

With MS Dhoni realising that the only real threat to the South African batsmen was going to be from the spinners, Mohit Sharma was restricted to just one over and failed to produce anything special.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 7 / 10

In a low scoring match such as this one, wickets was always going to matter more than the economy and Bhuvneshwar couldn’t provide India with those early breakthroughs that Dhoni would have been hoping for.

South Africa

Hashim Amla – 6 / 10

Seemed to be unaware of the field set as he walked into the trap laid out by India getting caught at leg slip to give India an early breakthrough. Should have looked to support De Villiers who had started brilliantly at the other end with a couple of boundaries in the first over.

AB de Villiers – 7 / 10

Started well against Bhuvneshwar but seemed to be troubled by the spin bowlers and once again ended up getting dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin. The South African opener will be looking to avoid being termed Ashwin’s ‘bunny’ when the teams face off next in Kolkata.

Faf du Plessis – 7 / 10

Stepped down the wicket to Ashwin and managed to get a six and a four. 13 runs had already been scored in that over but Du Plessis tried to hit one too many and ended up being caught by the mid-off fielder.

JP Duminy – 8.5 / 10

Showed his fellow teammates how to finish off the job in a calm and composed manner as he continues to remain unbeaten in the India tour so far. Refrained from going after the big shots and sensibly played the ball in the gaps to guide his side to yet another victory.

Farhaan Behardien – 7 / 10

Seemed to be distracted by the interruption of play on two occasions and lost focus when he came into bat, ending up gifting his wicket to Axar Patel when he could have easily once again be out in the middle as South Africa hit the winning runs.

David Miller – 8 / 10

After failing to get a chance to bat in the 1st T20, Miller made sure to remind the crowd of his big-hitting abilities smashing a huge six to the mid-wicket boundary. He also dismissed last match’s centurion Rohit Sharma hitting the wickets directly at the non-striker's end to leave him short of the crease.

Albie Morkel – 10 / 10

The South African all-rounder wouldn’t even have been playing in India, had David Wiese not injured his hand prior to this series. Playing his first international match for 18 months, Albie Morkel put in a brilliant performance picking up 3 wickets. He earned the Man of the Match award as well.

Chris Morris – 8 / 10

Made the crucial breakthrough for the Proteas trapping Dhawan in front of the wickets before showing a good presence of mind in the field as he threw the ball rightly to the striker’s end to account for the dangerous Kohli.

Kagiso Rabada – 9 / 10

The youngster bowled an inspired spell up front and troubled the Indian batsmen with his pace and bounce off the pitch. The skipper was so impressed with his bowling that he bowled out his quota of four overs on the trot within the first 10 overs.

Imran Tahir – 8 / 10

Du Plessis brought on Tahir in the second over itself and he produced a vicious delivery that took off after hitting a crack on the pitch forcing Rohit Sharma to drop his bat after defending the ball. Came back well later to dismiss a settled Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh in successive balls.

Kyle Abbott – 7 / 10

Couldn’t reproduce his heroics from the 1st T20 and seemed to be trying a bit too much. Failed to pick up a wicket and conceded 21 runs at seven runs an over.