Video of MS Dhoni saving India from losing the Match : 92 Runs : Man of the Match

India vs South Africa, 2nd ODI (D/N), Indore, Oct 14 2015, South Africa tour of India

Match Result: India won by 22 runs

Player of the Match: MS Dhoni (92 Runs in 86 Balls) (3 catches)

Match Report: What a turnaround in the match from India! They were 124 for 6 at one point and an out of form Dhoni in the middle. He put together an unbeaten 92 and then the India bowlers, much criticized for not defending very well, bowl SA out for 225. Dhoni knew it had to be spin to put them in trouble and brought them early on. The spinners not only took wickets but kept the pressure on.

Harbhajan: “Dhoni was fantastic with his captaincy. The wicket was nice to bat on and the ball was turning only when you bowled it slower. Here and there a few sixes went but we kept the pressure on and Axar took two crucial wickets. We felt we were 30 runs short and Dhoni said in the huddle that if we kept the energy up and saved 25-odd runs we could do it.”

De Villiers | South Africa captain: “They pulled it off across the line, credit to India. The target was manageable and a poor batting performance from us. We couldn’t extend it after the opening partnership and we have the experience. You have to stay positive no matter what total you are chasing, we couldn’t execute well. Very good performance from out bowlers, would have loved to chase something like 200. Nothing too serious about my back, just pulled my lower back a bit and should be fit for the next match.”

MS Dhoni | India captain and Man of the Match: “Not an easy game played, a lot of people wait with open swords and want you to make mistakes. We should have got more with the bats and we didn’t start well with our bowling but our spinners did well and pacers also came into action later on. Overall not a very convincing win but good win, we can play a lot better. We’re not playing to our capacity, not even 80%, in batting or bowling.

As a complete batting unit we didn’t perform well but we bounced back well. We knew we needed two good deliveries when Tahir and Rabada were batting. I won’t say the game was in our hands but we had a good chance if we bowled in the right areas and needed only two good deliveries. It doesn’t always go your way (talking about his batting), the top order has been scoring loads of runs in the last 2-2.5 years so lower order doesn’t get a big chance to bat.

Apart from Suresh there’s nobody who loves to do that kind of a job when you go out and you just have to go for the big hits. The pace was very important on this wicket and the length too. Axar is not a big turner of the ball and he pitched it in the right areas. Bhajji has the experience and they didn’t try too many different things and flighting or under-flighting the ball was needed and overall they did a good job.”