PHOTOS: Klaasen blasts South Africa to win in second T20

Images from the second T20 International between India and South Africa at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.

• Scorecard

Comeback man Heinrich Klaasen followed Rassie Van der Dussen's suit in turning out to be an unlikely hero with a career-best 81 as South Africa once again outwitted India by four wickets on a tricky pitch to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match T20I series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday.

On a two-paced track where most of the batters struggled, Klaasen made it look ridiculously easy as he smashed seven fours and five towering sixes in his 46-ball knock to hep his team chase down 149 with 10 balls to spare.

The wicketkeeper-batter, who was included into the side as a forced change for injured Quinton de Kock, completed his fourth T20I fifty in 32 balls before he smashed three sixes off Yuzvendra Chahal to virtually seal the chase.

Looking to finish it off with a six, he fell victim to Harshal Patel and in the very next over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Wayne Parnell to finish with a superb 4/13.

But it was not enough as they just needed three runs from the last two overs and the in-form David Miller (20 not out) completed the win to give the Proteas a commanding lead going into the Vizag T20I on June 14.

South Africa are aiming for their first ever bilateral T20I series win in India.

Making a comeback after more than seven months, Klaasen never took his foot off the pedal and got his team out of the woods after Bhuvneshwar pegged them back to 29/3 inside the Powerplay overs.

Klaasen first shared a match-turning 64 run partnership from 41 balls with skipper Temba Bavuma (35) before in-form David Miller joined him in the middle.

Defending a modest 149, the Rishabh Pant-led India got off to a superb start thanks to Bhuvneshwar's triple blow in successive overs.

Bhuvneshwar, who looked out of sorts in the first T20I, was back in his element as he sharply swung the ball back in to clean up Reeza Hendricks in his first over.

He then dismissed Dwaine Pretorius with a knuckle ball before castling the in-form Rassie van der Dussen (1) as Proteas slipped to 29/3.

Captain Temba Bavuma repaired the damage in the company of Klaasen. Bavuma hit a fluent 35 from 30 balls, adding 64 for the fourth wicket with Klaasen before he was bowled by Chahal.

However, Klaasen made most of a rare opportunity as he smashed the Indian bowlers all around the park to lift his team to victory.

Earlier, India's batters found it tough to get going against some tight bowling display from South Africa to be restricted to a below-par 148/6.

Shreyas Iyer (40) was the top-scorer for India while Ishan Kishan provided some early sparks in his 21-ball 34 but the hosts lost the momentum in the middle overs on a two-paced track.

That in-form finisher Dinesh Karthik was sent way down at No 7, behind Axar Patel, also made it difficult for the Rishabh Pant-led India, who are trailing 0-1 in the series.

Karthik (30 not out from 21 balls) smashed two sixes and two fours to give the total some semblance of respectability.

Harshal Patel (12 not out) gave him a good company as the duo added 36 runs from the last three overs to take India past 140.

Put into bat on a challenging track, the Indian batters struggled barring a small 45-run second wicket partnership between Kishan and Iyer.

Opening the bowling, Kagiso Rabada set the tone early on, giving an early breakthrough in the first over of the innings.

He brilliantly set up Ruturaj Gaikwad (1) with a barrage of short balls before mixing up a fuller one to cleverly deceive the opener en route to a splendid spell of 4-0-15-1, which included 13 dot balls.

After a sedate start, it was Kishan (34 from 21 balls) who provided the firepower in the Powerplay, smashing Nortje for two sixes to rally the Indians after an early wicket.

Fresh from his fiery half-century in the first T20, Kishan relied on his pick-up shots through the square leg region to hit three sixes and two fours.

But just when the duo looked to consolidate, Nortje won the battle against the diminutive Mumbai Indians opener, by pitching it short and offering pace as the left-hander mistimed his hook this time to be caught at deep square leg.