India VS South AfricaT20I: Of snakes, floodlights, a series win and India's tryst with poor 19th over
The second T20I between India and South Africa was noteworthy for many reasons. That India won the match by 16 runs was interesting, as it sealed India's first-ever T20I home series win against South Africa. Before this, the Proteas had never lost a T20I series in India
Wayne Parnell spooked by SnakeBut it wasn't just the match result that got people talking. There were two interruptions to the match, one in each innings and one scarier than the other.
The first occurred at the end of the seventh over in the first innings, when India was batting. A snake made its way onto the field, scaring Wayne Parnell.
Parnell was understandably frightened upon seeing the reptile, which made its way to the extra cover region before going to the square leg area and being subsequently removed.
Ground staff managed to get the animal away, and the innings carried on as usual, with India posting 237-3 – their fourth-highest total in T20I cricket.
But the third over of the second innings brought an all-too-familiar interruption to proceedings – a failed floodlight meant the players went off the field for about 10 minutes.
Luckily, there were no more interruptions, although India encountered an all too familiar roadblock that has recently troubled them – an expensive 19th over.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was previously criticised for giving up too many runs in the penultimate over of the game. Still, he's not a part of this series as he's been undergoing conditioning work at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
In his absence, the responsibility of bowling the 19th over has fallen to Arshdeep Singh – the man many felt would be better suited to the job, to begin with. The result? More of the same.
In the first T20I, South Africa was 81-7 with two overs. However, Keshav Maharaj chose to risk that over, slamming two fours and a six as South Africa took 17 runs off the over.
It meant nothing in the grand scheme, as South Africa only ended with 106-8 in the first innings. Even in the second match, it made no difference in the grand scheme of things as the asking rate was over 30 with two overs to go.
Yet this time, David Miller took a liking to Arshdeep, smacking him for two sixes and two fours as the penultimate over went for 27 runs. It also capped a forgettable night for Arshdeep, as after a Man of the Match performance in the first match, he went for 62 runs in this match – even if he did get two wickets.
And while the snake and the floodlight issues can be written off as freak encounters, India's woes in the death overs continued.
Whether or not the issue can be resolved soon enough will play a crucial part in their chances for the T20 World Cup.