SKY’s India aim to touch the sky as they hope to continue their brilliant winning run in the 2nd T20i vs South Africa.
SKY’s India aim to extend golden run in T20Is vs South Africa today.
The 2024 T20 World Cup was a great event for both South Africa and India. They won easily in the semi-finals after dominating their respective groups in the Super Eight and sailing through the group stage undefeated. There wasn’t much separating the two teams until the very end, even in the championship game.
However, their fortunes have changed since then, particularly in T20Is.
India has experienced a smooth transition with Suryakumar Yadav taking control and the new players adjusting well, even though they lost three key players to retirement following the World Cup victory. They have now won 11 straight games, including a series victories in Zimbabwe, series sweeps against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and a victory over South Africa on Friday in the series opener.
With the solitary defeat occurring against Zimbabwe in the opening Twenty20 International in early July, India has played 23 Twenty20 Internationals this year and won 22 of them. Crucially, they have won several of these matches without using their starting T20I players. If they defeat South Africa in the second Twenty20 International in Gqeberha, they will have tied their best-ever streak of twelve.
Conversely, following that last defeat, South Africa has had difficulties. Their series against Ireland ended 1-1 in Abu Dhabi, while they suffered a 3-0 loss to the West Indies in Tarouba. That skid is prolonged by the Durban defeat.
The outstanding camaraderie of the entire team was one factor that contributed to South Africa’s dominance in the T20 World Cup. One thing they haven’t had in the previous T20Is is that. In addition to missing a key member of their starting lineup, their captain, Aiden Markram, has struggled with form.
At a location where they have won three of their last four games, including one against India last year, South Africa, now behind 1-0 in the four-match series, would be eager to get back to winning ways. Can they do it once again?