India will know nothing but a win will do in the 2nd T20I on Monday in Cuttack, if they are to keep their hopes of winning the T20 international series against South Africa alive and kicking.
A JP Duminy special trumped an outstanding innings from Rohit Sharma in the first T20 international, with South Africa chasing down a target of 200, relatively comfortably in the end.
The India bowlers, or indeed the bowlers from South Africa, just could not contain the batsmen in Dharamsala, and with another flat pitch expected at the Barabati Stadium, expect another high-scoring encounter.
While India's batting looks in good order, the key to victory is likely to hinge on how well the bowlers fare. R Ashwin, with spin or without spin, needs to grab control a little better, while the onus is on the new-ball bowlers to pick up early wickets to put pressure on the South Africa batsmen.
It was way too easy, initially, for AB De Villiers and Hashim Amla to score runs, and that set the tone for the chase.
However, this pitch in Cuttack is expected to be a lot slower than the one in Dharamsala and that should suit the India bowlers, without an express pace bowler in their side, a lot more.
"The kind of bowlers we have now, they've done well in domestic cricket and whatever international cricket they've played so far," Rohit said. "They are not too experienced. But it's the same with the South African attack -- they too are not very experienced.
"Bhuvneshwar Kumar has played quite a bit of international cricket and S Arvind has just come in. Arvind is a proven performer in domestic cricket. These guys know what exactly is expected from them and I'm sure are trying their best to come out and take wickets and be aggressive.
"Sometimes things don't go your way and that's what happened in Dharamsala. The dew made it difficult of the fast bowlers to control the line and length. It made the ball tough to grip.
"It's no excuse to lose a game, but as a bowling unit we need to stick to our plans. We have to win the next game and we have to do a lot of things right."
While dew will play its part in Cuttack, where rain threatens to ruin the T20 party, as well, there is little doubt that both captains will want to bowl first again, if they win the toss. No score is safe when the wicket is flat and the bowlers are struggling to grip the ball, and both teams will be well aware of that fact.
Team news: India: The question going into this match is whether to continue with three medium-pacers or bring in the extra spinner. Harbhajan Singh has impressed in the IPL, and it might not be that bad an idea to bring the offspinner -- because the experienced player also adds a bit more to the batting lineup. Amit Mishra is the other spin option, and both will feel like they can do a job at the expense of a seamer. Apart from that, though, there should not be any change.
South Africa: Even if the bowlers struggled, the Proteas are unlikely to make any changes – why fiddle with a winning combination?
Where to Watch Live
Get the Report of the 2nd T20 HERE
Read about the bottles thrown by the crowd HERE
Get the Live Blog and updates of the match HERE
India vs South Africa is scheduled for a 7 pm local time (2.30 pm BST, 9.30 am ET, 3.30 pm SAST) start with live TV coverage in India on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3 (Hindi) and DD National. Audience in India, and large parts of the sub-continent, can also watch the 2nd T20I live on Hotstar and Starsports.com, without shelling out any money.
SuperSport is the place to be if you are watching the match in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, with the live streaming online option on SuperSport Live.
Viewers in the US can watch India vs South Africa 2nd T20I live on Willow TV, while the live stream option is on Willow TV online. Audience watching the match in the UK can flip their remotes to Sky Sports 2, while the live streaming option is on Sky Go and Watch Sky Sports.
Watch the T20 action live in the Middle East and North Africa on OSN Sports, while the match can also be live streamed on OSN Play.
