South Africa vs India 2018: 2nd ODI, 5 things we learnt from the match

The wrist spinners were once again the heroes for India

Spurred on by another display from the wrist spinners, India brushed aside a South African unit that still appeared dazed by the absence of AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis. Opting to bowl first, India made light work of the Proteas second string batting line-up, cleaning them up for 118 with only Khaya Zondo and JP Duminy, to an extent, holding up against the spinners.

India's intimidating top three meant that South Africa barely had a chance with nothing on the board. Even though Kagiso Rabada got rid of Rohit Sharma early, Dhawan and Kohli combined in a game-sealing partnership for India. The victory gave the visitors a 2-0 lead in the six-match series.

#5 South African batsmen gifted their wickets

Quinton de Kock hit one in the air from Chahal

After settling down at the crease for what seemed like an eternity, South Africa's opener, Quinton de Kock and their newly appointed skipper, Aiden Markram, gifted their wickets to the wrist spinners to give India a sniff. The southpaw was the first to depart, taking on Chahal's short-pitched ball and hitting it straight down deep square leg's throat.

Markram, on his captaincy debut, followed soon after when another innocuous delivery fetched the Indians a wicket. Kuldeep Yadav sent a short one down leg and Markram pulled it hoping to clear the fence but instead found Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the deep.

#4 Proteas' middle-order comes to a cropper

Duminy's place in the side is coming under scrutiny

With senior players, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis ruled out, the onus was on South Africa's unstable middle-order to contribute. JP Duminy and David Miller had barely shown the class and composure to hold themselves together in the ODI line-up and once again came under scrutiny.

While Miller appeared completely befuddled like in the first ODI and departed for a duck. Duminy and Khaya Zondo, on debut, hung around for a while but could not quite resurrect the waning Proteas innings. The wrist spinners ran havoc as South Africa collapsed rather meekly.

#3 Chahal scythes through hapless Proteas

Chahal was on fire at Centurion

Yuzvendra Chahal brought out his 'A' game and ripped through the heart of what remained in South Africa's batting line-up. He got a freebie when de Kock pulled a harmless short ball to the deep fielder but then dug into the Proteas line-up, getting rid of Zondo, Morris and Duminy.

The hosts appeared clueless against the guile of the Royal Challengers Bangalore leg-spinner as none of their batsmen, save Zondo to an extent, looked good enough against the spinners. With no De Villiers to shore them up, the batting went completely awry for the Proteas and they succumbed to 118 all out.

#2 Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan ace India's chase

Kohli and Dhawan eased India to an easy target

A run a ball partnership between Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan ensured that India faced little hiccups in overcoming a rather meagre total. Kagiso Rabada struck early to remove Rohit Sharma, but the Proteas still had to get past the most thoroughbred run-chase in ODI cricket.

None of South Africa's bowlers had a clue on getting past Dhawan and Kohli and the duo raced away to give India a 2-0 lead in the series. While South Africa's own wrist spinners had no idea where to bowl, India's spectacular duo made them pay, hardly breaking a sweat in the process.

#1 The ill-timed lunch break

Centurion bore witness to some bizarre scenes

With India ready to open the champagne bottles after Kohli and Dhawan combined in a 91 run stand, the umpires decided to intervene for the Proteas. The visitors were just 2 runs away from victory when the match officials decided that their lunch had been long overdue.

In what can only be termed as absolute farce, the officials took off the bails and called for lunch, a break which wasn't taken when South Africa's innings ended prematurely. What resulted shocked both the crowd and the cricketers on the field. A 40-minute break followed much to the frustration of everybody.