India beat South Africa by 22 runs in the second ODI in Indore and leveled the 5-match ODI series 1-1.

South Africa's batsman could not pull off a successful chase of what seemed to be a below-par target as India, led by their spinners and MS Dhoni's unbeaten 92, leveled the series with a win and maintained their 100% record at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

Axar Patel and Harbhajan Singh shared five wickets between them to defend India's total of 247, a score they reached only due to the impetus from Dhoni late in the innings.

Dhoni's knock was in part an answer to those who questioned both his form and his formula as a leader after India lost the T20 series and fell behind in this one. He played a steely innings to take India from a precarious 165 for 7 - founded on Ajinkya Rahane's 51- to a total they could work with, and then put on an animated display in the field to inspire his attack. India kept South Africa under pressure throughout the chase and then pushed them out of the game in the 44th over to secure a morale-boosting victory.