India captain Virat Kohli praised his wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav after registering a massive nine-wicket win over South Africa in the second one-day international in Centurion on Sunday. Chahal and Kuldeep's magical wrist spin outfoxed a depleted South Africa as Indian romped to a crushing win to reclaim the pole position in the ICC rankings. (MATCH HIGHLIGHTS)
India now lead the six-match series 2-0 as they literally annihilated the home team which had the ignominy of being shot out for a paltry 118 in 32.3 overs -- their lowest-ever score at home.
"We thought at the toss, the ball is going to do a bit in the morning. Was a much harder wicket than Durban. Bhuvi and Bumrah started really well. We didn't let South Africa get too much up front. Spinners were outstanding again. To win like this obviously feels very good. What we thought in the morning, we did all those things right.
"We knew that we won't get grass on the pitch. When it's seaming it's anyone's game anyway. We have the quicks to back that. We knew the wickets were going to be hard and dry. Those two (wrist-spinners) are a handy bunch together," Kohli said after the match.
Chahal recorded his career-best ODI figures of 5 for 22 in 8.2 overs and was superbly complemented by Kuldeep (3/20 in 6 overs) with none of the Proteas batsmen able to read them off their hands nor off the pitch.
Interestingly, Chahal's figures were best by any Indian bowler on South African soil eclipsing Yuvraj Singh's 4 for 6 against Namibia at Pietermaritzburg during 2003 World Cup.
It was a walk in the park for the batsmen as Shikhar Dhawan (51 no) helped himself to a nice half-century in company of skipper Kohli (46 no) to get India atop the 50-over rankings, finishing the match in 20.3overs.
Kohli said he is now confident of keeping up with the winning momentum.
"If we set up to chase down totals, we know exactly what we want to do. Rohit and Shikhar's intent at the top is crucial. They started off well in the last game too. We back guys to play positive cricket. Small totals, it's always important to start positive. It's a wonderful position to be in. We know their middle-order is inexperienced, and we look to cash in on that. The way our spinners are bowling, we are confident about continuing the same momentum," he said.
