The visitors won the toss and asked India to bat first once again. A familiar script… but with an all-new twist.

India’s openers barely had time to settle before the South African new ball attack struck twice.
Two wickets inside the powerplay, and Raipur let out that collective sigh; the kind that says, “Alright… who steadies the ship today?”

Gaikwad–Kohli: From survival to symphony 🎨

Enter Rutu and the King.

Not in a rush, not fazed by scoreboard pressure — just two batters slipping into rhythm. Punch–drive–glide. Rotate–reset–repeat.

Soon, the conversation stopped being about recovery and started being about dominance. 195 runs. A partnership stitched with pure batting IQ.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, calm as morning light, marked his maiden ODI century. Virat? He just kept doing Virat things.
Another page in cricket folklore: his 53rd ODI hundred.

KL Flashbacks: The closer strikes again 💥

With a platform built and bowlers wilting, KL Rahul walked in with purpose.

Quick hands, quicker feet, and zero hesitation. Vintage endgame KL - finding gaps, punishing the misses, turning 330-ish into 358/5. 

South African fightback: Markram’s captain’s charge

You cannot accuse this Proteas side of quitting. Aiden Markram launched a counterattack. A stellar century with Bavuma beside him, providing the perfect foil.

Their partnership took the game out of “India in control” territory and into “hold on… this isn’t over.”

And then came the chaos phase.

The Brevis–Breetzke blitz: 92 off 63 😳

Brevis and Breetzke brought EDM to the party. Swinging freely, dismantling lengths. The chase bent, the pressure swung, and suddenly 358 looked… reachable.

Just when the crowd braced for the worst, India punched back - three wickets, bang-bang-bang.

Bosch the Finisher 🧊

Every thriller needs a final act, and South Africa found their man. CORBIN BOSCH.

Just clean, measured, controlled batting to steer his side home. South Africa won by 4 wickets in a contest that felt like it belonged to both teams at different times.

The series stands 1–1, and now all roads lead to Vizag, a decider with a fever pitch waiting to be unleashed.

Clear your schedule. The last word of this story hasn’t been written yet.

Brief Scores: India 358/5 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 105, Marco Jansen 2/63) lost to South Africa 362/6 (Aiden Markram 110, Arshdeep Singh 2/54) by 4 wickets.