South Africa implode to lose by 22 runs after Dhoni rescues India with bat

INDORE: It required a gem of an effort from Mahendra Singh Dhoni to revive India's fortunes in the ODI series against South Africa. Both the team and the skipper were under intense pressure after having lost the T20 series as well as the first ODI in Kanpur on Sunday. There were questions galore about Dhoni, the skipper and the batsman. He answered the critics as only he can, by first almost single-handedly resurrecting the innings and helping the team to post a fighting total.And then he marshalled his resources well to leave the visitors gasping in the end.
Everybody was expecting a run feast at the overflowing Holkar stadium, which is known to produce high-scoring games. But India just about managed to reach 247, that too thanks to their skipper's superlative, unbeaten 92 after the top-half perished without contributing substantially. At the change of innings, the total did not seem daunting enough for the SA batsmen. But Dhoni's decision to introduce the two spinners - Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh - very early in the innings proved crucial. The inroads made by the two put the visitors under pressure and in the end Bhuvneshwar Kumar did his bit as South Africa fell 22 runs short of the target.
After the come-from-behind win here, India will heave a sigh of relief as they travel to Rajkot for the third ODI on Sunday. They can now hope to fight their opponents on equal terms in the rest of the matches.
The three changes in the XI also worked in the team's favour. Patel produced one of his best bowling efforts while Harbhajan was able to spin a bit of magic of old, while Mohit Sharma was far more impressive than Stuart Binny. No doubt it was a team effort, as Dhoni said after the match, but he alone stood tall on Wednesday. He had to be at his aggressive self on the field. With his unbeaten 92 from just 86 deliveries, with seven fours and four sixes, he gave his bowlers a decent total to defend.
He had come to the crease when Kohli was run out for second time in four innings, this time after a misunderstanding with Rahane. Things did not look rosy when a fuming Kohli left the field. And when Rahane and Suresh Raina departed in quick succession, with the score reading 104/5 in the 24th over, there was every likelihood of India failing to bat out the full 50 overs.
But Dhoni, along with the lower half, ensured India did not face that ignominy. For much of the innings, he farmed the strike but missed out on a chance to get to his 10th ODI century. In the final over from Kagiso Rabada, he needed 14 to reach the three-figure mark. But he failed to pierce the field off the first five deliveries, though he did end the innings with a flourish, sending the final ball soaring for a six.