South Africa vs India, 2nd T20I - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: India tour of South Africa, 2017-18 Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion Date & Time: Feb 21, 06:00 PM LOCAL

Pandey made an unbeaten 79 for India. © AFP

All over! South Africa have achieve series parity!

And that's thanks two sensational half-centuries from Heinrich Klaasen and captain JP Duminy. Excellent batsmanship on a day when Chahal - one of South Africa's tormentors finished the day with the worst T20I figures for Indian bowlers. Once again in the limited-overs leg, it has taken the threat of rain to fire up South Africa and knock the winds out of India's sails. Klaasen's arrival at the end of the fifth over turned the game on its head for the hosts. The wicketkeeper-batsman was brutal in his 30-ball stay for 69 -smashing three fours and seven sixes along the way. Once he fell, Duminy carried on and finished it off in style with eight deliveries to spare. He ended the game with an undefeated 64 off 40 balls. Super stuff from the hosts to drag the series to the finale in Cape Town on February 24. Until then, goodbye!

JP Duminy keeps the chase alive...and how!

Klaasen's exit hasn't made a different to South Africa. Their captain has continued the scoring, breached par scores as rain keeps looking to come out at any moment, while also reducing the equation. A lot of that is down to Yuzvendra Chahal having his worst day in the format - conceding 64 - the most by an Indian in T20Is. SA now need just 26 off the last 18 balls.

3 0

Toss - SA opt to bowl

No surprises there! Duminy opts to bowl with a bit of rain around. South Africa remain unchanged. There is not a lot you can tinker with a 13-man squad. India have rested Jasprit Bumrah with the seamer having a niggle. Shardul Thakur has replaced him.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli(c), Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal

South Africa (Playing XI): JJ Smuts, Reeza Hendricks, Jean-Paul Duminy(c), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Dane Paterson, Junior Dala, Tabraiz Shamsi

Build up

Bad news to begin with! It's been raining in Centurion and as a result, the women's T20I was abandoned. With the men also scheduled to play the second game of their series at the same venue, there could very well be a delay. Shaun Pollock is optimistic though. South Africa will be eager to get on the park more than anyone. They badly need a win in order to level the series and restore some pride. They have endured a torrid time ever since clinching the Test series.

Indiahavereigned supreme in the limited-overs and the injuries to some of their top stars haven't done them any favours. South Africa will look to their new faces to step up against a strong Indian bowling attack and more importantly, they cannot afford to repeat their mistakes. They were guilty of bowling too short in the powerplay against Dhawan and Rohit, which saw them concede 78 runs in six overs, so expect a change in tactics this time around.

For India, it will be interesting to see if they continue to send Raina at 3. Personally, I would love to see him in the role of a finisher especially with Kedar Jadhav still being circumspect at 6 in the 50-over format. Kohli had a minor injury as well in the first game, so we will get to see if he is completely fit enough to take the field today. Welcome to the live blog for the second T20I. Send in your opinions to @Narbavi and have them featured on the blog.