CUTTACK, OCT 5: South Africa clinched the Twenty20 International series with a comfortable six-wicket win over India in the second match played at Barabati Stadium here which was marred by shameful and unruly crowd behaviour.
The Proteas overhauled the 93-run target with 17-balls to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Put into bat, India put up a shambolic performance, getting bowled out for just 92 against South Africa in 17.2 overs; and the crowd, unable to digest the pathetic batting display, started pelting water bottles onto the ground. This caused a break in play as the players went off the field, but they were soon back on.
It was a disgraceful behaviour by the crowd, who did not respond to repeated requests on the public system to keep calm putting a question mark on future cricket matches in the millennium city.
For South Africa it was the bowlers who made the difference, with Albie Morkel (3-12) picking up three and Imran Tahir (2-24) and Chris Morris (2-16) chipping in with two wickets each.
India got off to a moderate start, with Rohit Sharma (22) and Shikhar Dhawan putting on 28 in four overs. Dhawan, who was just starting to look good, ended up falling LBW to Chris Morris for 11 off 12 balls, while Virat Kohli (1) and Rohit soon ran themselves out.
Leg-spinner Tahir also swung into action by scalping Suresh Raina for 22 as the Men in Blue looked down the barrel at 67 for five.
Morkel, who was drafted into the XI in place of Marchant de Lange, took care of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (5) and Axar Patel (9) as Tahir and Morris kept up the good work.
The Faf du Plessis-led side also lost early wickets as off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3-24) tried his best to defend a low score, but the visitors made it look simple in the end.
After the fall of Hashim Amla (2), Faf (16) and AB de Villers (19), Jean-Paul Duminy (30 not out) and Farhaan Behardien (11) made sure that Proteas stay comfortable in the chase. In the end David Miller (10 not out) stayed on with Duminy to finish things off quite easily.
