India beat South Africa in 2nd T20I, clinch series: Takeaways
What's the story
India clinched a thrilling 16-run win against South Africa in the second T20I in Guwahati on Sunday.
Batting first, Rohit Sharma's men stacked up 237/3.
Fiery shows from KL Rahul (57) and Suryakumar Yadav (61) played a part.
SA (221/3) fell short in the mammoth chase despite valiant knocks from David Miller (106*) and Quinton de Kock (69*).
Here are the takeaways.
Win
Maiden series win at home against SA
India seized their maiden T20I series win versus SA at home.
The Men in Blue had suffered a 2-0 defeat in 2015.
The 2019 series ended as a 1-1 draw.
The five-match series at home earlier in June wound up with a 2-2 scoreline.
India finally broke the shackles as they eye a dominant display in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Feats
Team India unlocks this record
India haven't lost a T20I series at home since February 2019.
Since November 2019, India won eight back-to-back series at home (vs Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, England, New Zealand, and now SA).
India are unbeaten in 11 T20I series at home, the most by a team in home conditions.
Notably, Australia recorded eight such series wins between 2006-10.
Duo
Rahul, Kohli up the ante
Opening batter Rahul has been at his best.
He bashed a spectacular-looking 28-ball 57 after having scored a calculated fifty in the first outing.
Virat Kohli meant business as well, tonking a superb 49* off 28 deliveries, hitting seven fours and a six.
The Run Machine piloted India to 237/3, plundering 82 runs in the death overs alongside SKY and Dinesh Karthik (7-ball 17*).
Knock
SKY lit up Guwahati
If Rahul wreaked havoc in the first 10 overs, Suryakumar unleashed his beast mode later.
The latter smacked two sixes and as many fours in the 15th over bowled by Kagiso Rabada.
SKY slammed his ninth half-century in T20Is.
He has looked ominous, with fifties in each of the last three duels.
India would heavily bank on SKY in the T20 WC.
Arshdeep
Arshdeep puts SA on crutches in Powerplay, leaks runs eventually
Arshdeep Singh is turning out to be a fine exponent in the Powerplay, besides a noted campaigner in the death-overs.
The left-armer had garnered three wickets in PP in Thiruvananthapuram.
He emulated his show, uprooting both Temba Bavuma (0) and Rilee Rossouw (0), bringing SA to 1/2 in 1.4 overs.
Later, Arshdeep became the first Indian pacer to concede 60+ runs in a T20I.
Performance
Miller shreds Indian attack to pieces
Miller reached the three-figure mark in 46 deliveries, clobbering his second ton in the format.
He belted the hosts left, right, and center and even surpassed JP Duminy to become the highest run-getter for SA in T20Is.
The hard-hitting southpaw clubbed eight fours and seven sixes, making the chase interesting, only to fall short later.
He slammed 106* off 47 balls.