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Ahead of his side's second T20I clash against South Africa at Cuttack, Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said that the side has a chance to win the series for which, they will have to bowl better and bat in the same fashion as the previous game.
The second T20I clash of the five-match series at home will be played on Sunday at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. "We have four games remaining in this series, we have a chance to win the series. We have to bowl better, and we need to bat in the same fashion as the previous game," said the pacer during a press conference. Kumar said that it would be challenging to bowl to an in-form David Miller. "It is difficult (bowling to Miller). He is in such good form. I would want South Africa to drop him but they would not do so (laughs). He batted so well in the IPL; we know his calibre. Bowling to him would be a challenge," he said. Miller is in great form this year. He scored a match-winning 64* in the first clash against India. Besides that, he had an incredible IPL 2022 and was a key factor in Gujarat Titans' triumph in their debut season. In his 16 games, he scored 481 runs at an average of 68.71. He has scored two half-centuries, with the best score of 94*. The pacer said that the side has not seen the wicket yet and it expects to bowl well in the second match to level the series. "We discussed what went wrong. It was the first game of the series; everyone is coming out the IPL and almost everyone who is in the team had a good IPL. So, everyone knows what needs to be done and the things we can improve on. As a bowling unit, we had an off day and we all want to make a comeback in the second T20I. We did not bowl well, everyone knows that. It was just the first game; we still have the chance to win the series. It depends on the situation, but sometimes, you are not able to execute. When you are defending, generally the mindset is defensive. If you get a wicket, it works very well. But generally, you have a defensive mindset when you are defending a total," he added. The pacer said that his role and focus is on bowling at powerplay and during the death overs. "The senior bowlers are not here, there are some new bowlers here so I try to take the responsibility. You always try to talk to other bowlers and I try to keep talking with them. Focus is on bowling very well in each game," he added. After a seven-wicket loss to South Africa in the first T20I match of the five-match series at home, Team India will be looking forward to levelling the series when they take on the Proteas in the second T20I at Cuttack. On the other hand, South Africa will be looking forward to continuing its good run in India. Having not lost a T20I series in India against the Men in Blue, the Proteas will be looking forward to adding another series win to their accomplishments. Coming to the first clash, chasing 212 South Africa lost wickets at regular intervals and were 81/3 when Miller and Van der Dussen came in for the rescue. The two batters eventually put up an unbeaten and match-winning partnership of 131 runs for the fourth wicket and brought up their fifties. Earlier, after being put to bat first, India posted 211/4 in 20 overs. Ishan Kishan smashed 76 off 48 while Hardik Pandya also played the quick-fire knock of unbeaten 31 off 12. South Africa has a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. (ANI)
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