CHANDIGARH, India (AFP) — An unbeaten half-century from skipper Virat Kohli and disciplined bowling helped India beat South Africa by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 i nternational on Wednesday.

Kohli made 72 off 52 balls as India chased down their target of 150 in 19 overs in Chandigarh to lead the three-match series 1-0 after the opening game was washed out.

But it was the bowlers led by paceman Deepak Chahar, who set up the win after restricting South Africa to 149 for five in their innings.

“Bowlers showed lot of character. The pitch was very good and they got off to a good start so it was an outstanding effort from the bowlers,” man of the match Kohli said after the win.

Kohli anchored the chase, putting on crucial partnerships including a 61-run second-wicket stand with opener Shikhar Dhawan, who made 40 off 31 deliveries.

The left-handed Dhawan fell to a spectacular catch by an airborne David Miller at long-on with left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi getting the breakthrough.

Debutant spinner Bjorn Fortuin struck soon to get wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant back in the pavilion for four as India slipped to 104 for three.

But Kohli, who went on to complete his 22nd T20 fifty in 71 games, stood firm to see the team home with Shreyas Iyer, on 16 as he hit the winning four, at the other end.

Kohli moved regained his status as the highest run-getter in T20 internationals with 2,441 runs. He is locked in a battle with teammate Rohit Sharma, who was out for 12 and has 2,434 runs from 97 matches.

Earlier, South Africa skipper Quinton de Kock smashed 52 off 37 deliveries to give his team a brisk start before the Indian bowlers struck back.

The final match is on Sunday in Bangalore.

SCOREBOARD

R. Hendricks b Chahar 6

Q. de Kock b Saini 52

T. Bavuma b Chahar 49

R. van der Dussen c & b Jadeja

1

D. Miller b H. Pandya 18

D. Pretorius not out 10

A. Phehlukwayo not out 8

Extras (lb5) 5

Total (5 wickets, 20 Overs) 149

Did not bat: A. Phehlukwayo, B.

Fortuin, K. Rabada, A. Nortje,

T. Shamsi

Fall of wickets: 1-31 (Hendricks),

2-88 (de Kock), 3-90 (Van der

Dussen), 4-146 (Bavuma), 5-129

(Miller)

Bowling: Sundar 3-0-19-0,

Chahar 4-0-22-2, Saini 4-0-34-1,

Jadeja 4-0-31-1, H. Pandya 4-0-

31-1, K. Pandya 1-0-7-0

India (target 150)

R. Sharma lbw b Phehlukwayo12

S. Dhawan c Miller b Shamsi40

V. Kohli not out 72

R. Pant c Shamsi b Fortuin 4

S. Iyer not out 16

Extras (lb2, w5) 7

Total (3 wickets, 19 overs) 151

Did not bat: H. Pandya, K.

Pandya, R. Jadeja, W. Sundar, D.

Chahar, N. Saini

Fall of wickets: 1-33 (Sharma),

2-94 (Dhawan), 3-104 (Pant)

Bowling: Rabada 3-0-24-0 (w3),

Nortje 3-0-27-0, Phehlukwayo

3-0-20-1 (w1), Pretorius 3-0-27-

0, Shamsi 3-0-19-0 (w1), Fortuin

4-0-32-1

Toss: India

Result: India won by 7 wickets

Series: India lead the threematch

series 1-0

Umpires: Chettithody

Shamshuddin (IND) and Anil

Chaudhary (IND)

TV umpire: Nitin Menon (IND)

Match referee: Sir Richie

Richardson (WIS)