Separated by a run

India snatch thrilling win in second ODI against South Africa.

JOHANNESBURG: India made an astonishing recovery to snatch a one-run victory over South Africa in the second One-Day International (ODI) to level the series at one match each.

Munaf Patel took two wickets in the final over to finish with four for 29, with Yuvraj Singh taking a catch to end the match when Wayne Parnell cut in an attempt to score the winning runs.

South Africa made an aggressive start after Lonwabo Tsotsobe produced career-best bowling figures of four for 22 as India were bowled out for 190. Graeme Smith and JP Duminy took South Africa to within 71 runs of victory with seven wickets in hand.

But the batting Powerplay proved disastrous. Smith was out to the first ball of the Powerplay and South Africa lost their last six wickets for 37 runs to face defeat.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar equalled Sanath Jayasuriya’s world record of 444 ODI appearances but struggled to 24 off 44. He has been ruled out of the ODI series due to a hamstring injury.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th,  2011.