South Africa vs India 2018, 2nd ODI: Things which went right for the visitors

India chased down a paltry 118 in 20.3 overs, to beat South Africa by 9 wickets in the 2nd ODI of the six-match series at Centurion on Sunday.

Batting first, South Africa were bowled out for 118 in 32.2 overs, their lowest ODI total on home soil. Their previous lowest score was 119 against England at Port Elizabeth in November 2009.

Spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were the wreckers-in-chief as they shared eight wickets between them to dismantle South Africa.

After losing Rohit Sharma early, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan chased down the total with 177 balls remaining as India went 2-0 up in the ODI series.

The third ODI will be played on Wednesday, February 7 at Newlands, Cape Town.

Now, let us have a look at the factors that led to India's win.

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#5 Virat Kohli's captaincy

While South Africa were seen struggling in the absence of their regular skipper Faf du Plessis, India have flourished so far in the ODI series under the leadership of Virat Kohli.

The 29-year-old, who possesses excellent mental strength, orchestrated a turn-around for his team after they were beaten 2-1 in the three-match Test series.

After winning the crucial toss on Sunday, Kohli rightly opted to bowl first on a Centurion pitch that has lately been assisting spinners instead of pacers.

He then deployed his bowlers at the right times and continued to pile on the pressure on the South African batsmen, eventually dismissing them on a paltry 118.

Even while batting, Kohli was involved in an unbeaten 93-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan as India chased down the target in 20.3 overs and won the 2nd ODI.

#4 Absence of AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis

South Africa were dealt a blow after their star batsman AB de Villiers was ruled out of the first three ODIs of the six-match series against India due to a finger injury.

The 33-year-old, who is still the nucleus of South Africa's batting order, was sorely missed by the hosts in the first ODI, where none of their batsmen except skipper Faf du Plessis (120) managed to show any resistance against India's menacing wrist-spinners.

Just ahead of the second ODI, Du Plessis was also ruled out of the series due to an injury and 23-year-old Aiden Markram was made the stand-in skipper for the hosts.

But, Markram's international leadership debut on his home ground quickly turned into a nightmare as South Africa suffered a massive batting collapse and were bowled out for 118 in 32.2 overs.

With 1295 runs in 29 ODIs, De Villiers, who was recently named in the ICC ODI Team of the Year 2017, boasts of a terrific record against India.

The former South Africa captain was also the differentiator between the two teams in the recently concluded three-match Test series, as he was the leading run-scorer with a tally of 211 in six innings.

Du Plessis, who is one of the most experienced players South African line-up, was in good touch in the 1st ODI as he scored 120 help his team post a respectable total of 269 in Durban and was thoroughly missed as the hosts surrendered meekly.

#3 Dismissing South Africa for 118

The Centurion pitch was criticised for behaving like a sub-continental pitch during the second match of the recently-concluded Test series and there was no difference in the nature of the track during the second ODI.

Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl first and South Africa were dismissed for their lowest total at home, succumbing to wrist spin of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

South Africa lost their first four wickets for 12 runs in the space of 26 deliveries and, after a short rebuilding phase courtesy of JP Duminy and debutant Khanya Zondo, they lost their next six for 19 runs in 36 balls and were bowled out inside 33 overs.

It was a dismal batting display by the hosts as they could manage to post a paltry 118 on the board which turned out to be a cakewalk of a chase for India's formidable batting line-up.

#2 Partnership between Kohli and Dhawan

Chasing modest totals can be quite tricky but chase masters India faced no problem whatsoever as they went past South Africa's total of 118 in just 20.3 overs to win the second ODI.

India lost opener, Rohit Sharma, early but Shikhar Dhawan (51*) and Virat Kohli (46*) then went on to stitch an unbeaten partnership worth 93 runs to take the visitors to the finish line.

In the 1st ODI, Ajinkya Rahane and Kohli brought up a stand of 189 runs, second highest by an Indian pair in South Africa against South Africa in ODIs, to orchestrate the visitors' fightback.

While Rahane scored 79 off 86, Kohli brought up his 33rd ODI ton to become the first player to score a century in each country that he has played in ODI cricket.

#1 Excellent job done by wrist spinners

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav continued to weave their magic as they shared eight wickets between them to dismiss South Africa for 118 in 32.2 overs.

Chahal, who claimed his maiden ODI five-wicket haul, became the first Indian to do so against South Africa in their backyard.

The young leg-spinner, playing in just his 19th ODI, produced the best bowling spell by an Indian in ODIs against South Africa at their home taking 5/22 on Centurion Park pitch known to help pacers.

Chahal, who claimed 2 wickets in Durban last week, got rid of Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Khaya Zondo, Morne Morkel and Chris Morris in his 8 overs to achieve the feat.

While Chalal was the pick of Indian bowlers, Yadav was not far behind as he snared 3/20 in his 6 overs.

For the second match in a row, the Indian pacers were not as effective as the spinners as Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had to satisfy with one wicket each.