Earlier, put into bat, India failed to live upto its reputation as a formidable batting unit and managed compile a total of 148 for six, thanks to a 21-ball unbeaten 30 by Dinesh Karthik towards the end. Besides Karthik, Shreyas Iyer (40) and Ishan Kishan (34) made notable contributions.

Amidst the defeat, Bhuvneshwar Kumar salaved some pride for India with his magnificent swing bowling. But his superb haul of four wickets for 13 runs went in vain as South Africa clinched victory with 10 balls to spare.

The defeat for Team India came as a painful blow for a cricket crazy crowd of Odisha that thronged the Barabati Stadium, hoping to see a thumping win for the home team. Even Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik showed great interest for the match, purchased the first ticket and rang the bell to mark the start of the match.

Along with the Chief Minister, his Private Secretary VK Pandian, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Odisha Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera and Sports Department Secretary R Vineel Krishna were present in the match.

Though the proceeds of the match went to the coffers of Odisha Cricket Association (OCA), the entire government machinery was used free of cost to stage the event. Interestingly, only 12,000 tickets were sold to general public through counters and around 5000 through online.

According to OCA Secretary Sanjay Behera, the total seating capacatiy of Barabati Stadium was 45,000. But according to knowledgeable people, including mediapersons covering the match, 55,000 to 60,000 people watched the match at Barabati.

On the other hand, around 60 per cent seats of the stadium were filled with people who were given complimentary passes. But it was alleged that huge number of tickets and passes were sold in the black market.

SCORECARD

INDIA: Ruturaj Gaikwad c Maharaj b Rabada 1, Ishan Kishan c van der Dussen b Nortje 34, Shreyas Iyer c Klaasen b Pretorius 40, Rishabh Pant (c, wk) c van der Dussen b Maharaj 5, Hardik Pandya b Parnell 9, Axar Patel b Nortje 10, Dinesh Karthik not out 30, Harshal Patel not out 12; Extras (lb-1, w-6) 7
Total (6 wkts; 20 overs) 148
Did not bat: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Gaikwad, 0.5 ov), 2-48 (Kishan, 6.4 ov), 3-68 (Pant, 9.1 ov), 4-90 (Pandya, 12.4 ov), 5-98 (Iyer, 13.5 ov), 6-112 (Patel, 16.6 ov)
Bowling: Kagiso Rabada 4-0-15-1, Wayne Parnell 4-0-23-1, Anrich Nortje 4-0-36-2, Dwaine Pretorius 4-0-40-1, Tabraiz Shamsi 2-0-21-0, Keshav Maharaj 2-0-12-1.

SOUTH AFRICA: Temba Bavuma (c) b Chahal 35, Reeza Hendricks b Kumar 4, Dwaine Pretorius c Avesh Khan b Kumar 4, Rassie van der Dussen b Kumar 1-7-15-0, Heinrich Klaasen (wk) c sub (Ravi Bishnoi) b HV Patel 81, David Miller not out 20, Wayne Parnell b Kumar 1, Kagiso Rabada not out 0; Extras (lb-1, w-2) 3
Total (6 wkts; 18.2 overs) 149
Did not bat: Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Hendricks, 0.6 ov), 2-13 (Pretorius, 2.5 ov), 3-29 (van der Dussen, 5.3 ov), 4-93 (Bavuma, 12.2 ov), 5-144 (Klaasen, 16.6 ov), 6-147 (Parnell, 17.6 ov)
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-13-4, Avesh Khan 3-0-17-0, Hardik Pandya 3-0-31-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-49-1, Harshal Patel 3-0-17-1, Axar Patel 1-0-19-0, Shreyas Iyer 0.2-0-2-0.
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TOP: South African stumper-batter Heinrich Klaasen in action during their 2nd T20I against India at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on 12 June 2022.
RIGHT: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly interact during India-South Africa 2nd T20I at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on 12 June 2022.