South Africa levelled the three-match series at 1-1 with one game to play.
Opening batter Aiden Markram paved the way for the Proteas on Wednesday, as they held their nerve to earn a narrow four-wicket victory over India with four balls to spare in the second one-day international (ODI) in Raipur.
With the SA team chasing 359 runs to win, Markram shared 101 runs with Proteas captain Temba Bavuma (who made 46 off 48) for the second wicket.
The opener went on to hit 110 off 98 – his fourth ODI century – before Harshit Rana had him caught by Rutaraj Gaikwad at long-on in the 30th over of the innings.
After Markram was removed, middle-order batters Matthew Breetzke (68 off 64) and big-hitting Dewald Brevis (54 off 34) picked up the momentum.
Bosch guides SA to victory
And while Tony de Zorzi (17) was forced to retire hurt after picking up an injury with five overs left in the innings, all-rounder Corbin Bosch added a quickfire 29 off 15, guiding the tourists to 362/6 as they levelled the three-match series at 1-1.
It was the highest successful run chase against India in an ODI match.
Seam bowlers Arshdeep Singh (2/54) and Prasidh Krishna (who was expensive but took 2/85) spearhead India’s attack, who put up a fight albeit in a futile attempt to contain the Proteas batters.
“We just wanted to run hard. We knew we’d be able to pick up the runs,” Bosch said afterwards.
“There’s always a belief in this team that we can always chase anything, and we showed that.”
India innings
Earlier, after losing the toss and being sent in to bat, veteran Virat Kohli and Gaikwad anchored India’s innings, combining in a 195-run stand for the third wicket.
Kohli hit 102 runs off 93 balls – his second century in a row – and Gaikwad made 105 off 83 – his maiden ton in his eighth ODI – and though they were removed just a few overs apart, captain KL Rahul contributed an unbeaten 66 to guide the hosts to 358/5 in their 50 overs.
Marco Jansen was the best of the Proteas bowlers, taking 2/63 and grabbing the key scalps of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gaikwad, while fellow seamer Lungi Ngidi did well to try keep the run-rate down and dismissed Kohli.
Left-armer Nandre Burger, who took 1/43, left the field during his seventh over with a right hamstring injury.
The third and final ODI between SA and India will be played in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
