India were up against South Africa, yet again in Durban, for the 2nd T20I on 19th April 2026 (Sunday). India suffered a 6-wicket defeat on Friday, in the 1st T20I of the five-match series.
While the 1st T20I saw Kashvee Gautam’s T20I debut, it was Anushka Sharma’s turn to get her maiden international cap in the 2nd T20I, as India also brought Kranti Gaud, replacing Renuka Singh, as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side were eyeing a redemption to level the T20I series. The home side retained the same side that took the field in the previous clash.
Laura Wolvaardt, yet again, won the toss and inserted India to bat first. The Indian openers, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, got their side off to a flying start with a 22-run opening stand. The Indian vice-captain, Smriti Mandhana (12 off 7 balls), came out with a counter-attacking mindset, but couldn’t stay longer as she was dismissed in the 3rd over by Chloe Tryon, providing the first breakthrough for South Africa.
Shafali Verma switched gears en route to a 24-run partnership for the 2nd wicket, alongside Jemimah Rodrigues. Tryon broke through again, removing Jemimah Rodrigues in the 5th over of the innings, providing the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Debutant Anushka Sharma gave solid support to Shafali en route to their 53-run stand for the 3rd wicket, which also took them closer to the 100-run mark. Anushka (28 off 31 balls) ran out of luck against an in-form Chloe Tryon, who ended her stay in the 13th over of the innings, providing the much-needed 3rd breakthrough for the Proteas.
India suffered a horrible collapse as they were eventually bundled out for just 147 in their quota of 20 overs, losing their last 7 wickets for just 48 runs. Opening batter Shafali Verma (57 off 38 balls) top-scored with the bat, with a fantastic half-century. Arundhati Reddy (14 off 14 balls), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (12 off 9 balls), Shree Charani (7* off 3 balls), and Kranti Gaud (4 off 3 balls) chipped in with handy contributions to push the total closer to the 150-run mark.
Chloe Tryon (4-0-22-3), Tumi Sekhukhune (4-0-31-3), Nonkululeko Mlaba (4-0-17-1), and Nadine de Klerk (2-0-14-1) were the top performers with the ball for South Africa.
Chasing a target of 148, the South African openers Sune Luus and skipper Laura Wolvaardt came out all guns blazing, killing off the run chase with a decisive 106-run opening stand. It is also the highest opening stand for the Proteas against India at home in T20Is. The pair tore apart the Indian new-ball bowlers as they scored at a rate of 11 runs an over in the powerplay.
The 23-year-old off-spinner Shreyanka Patil (4-0-35-2) removed both the openers, Sune Luus (57 off 46 balls), and skipper Laura Wolvaardt (54 off 34 balls) in quick succession. However, the pair of Annerie Dercksen (12* off 7 balls) and Tazmin Brits (20* off 17 balls) ensured that there were no further hiccups for the home side as they got over the line with 8 wickets in hand and 17 balls to spare to go 2-0 up in the ongoing T20I series.
Arundhati Reddy (4-0-27-0) was impressive with the ball in her spell for her side. Chloe Tryon was awarded the Player of the Match for her decisive spell (4-0-22-3) with the ball for her Proteas.
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