South Africa pulled off a historic chase as they hunted down the 359-run target in the second ODI in Raipur. Aiden Markram was adjudged the Player of the Match for his superb 110 off 98 balls, which set the foundation for the Proteas.
In the post-match presentation, he said: “I always take lessons from the previous game. We knew it is going to swing early and we took up that challenge. If had gotten off to a semi decent start then we could have chased it down. Very similar today and we learned from our mistakes. There was a conservation later in the innings when myself and Temba were set to make a move, I am proud of the boys to get us over the line.”
Markram built two important partnerships that acted as pillars of the chase. The 31-year-old added 101 runs off 96 balls with captain Temba Bavuma and 70 off 55 balls with Matthew Breetzke. Markram was eventually removed by Harshit Rana.
After his dismissal, Breetzke continued the fight with Dewald Brevis and took South Africa close to the target. The lower order then completed the remaining work with calm batting.
Markram praised the depth in their batting line-up and said: “There were moments of pressure, but they stayed calm and got us the win. We have got 8 really good batters and Kesh as well. You feel that freedom as well. The boys are putting their hands up in the middle order and now the top order has to start contributing. Pace on the ball is good but when it starts to nip around it becomes difficult.”
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