Indore, Oct 14 (IANS): India's veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Wednesday heaped praise on Mahendra Singh Dhoni for displaying fantastic captaining skills and leading the team to victory against South Africa in the second One-Day International (ODI) here on Wednesday.

India defeated the visitors by 22 runs to level the five-match ODI series 1-1 at the Holkar Cricket Stadium.

Dhoni's defiant 92 not out and Ajinkya Rahane's 51 took India to 247/9 in 50 overs after batting first. During the chase, South Africa kept losing wickets regularly and were bowled out for 225 in 43.4 overs.

"Dhoni was fantastic with his captaincy. The wicket was nice to bat on and the ball was turning only when you bowled it slower," Harbhajan, who himself contributed to the victory with two wickets, said after the match here.

Medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and left-arm spinner Axar Patel took three wickets each that helped India produce an all-round bowling performance.

"Here and there a few sixes went but we kept the pressure on and Axar took two crucial wickets. We felt we were 30 runs short and Dhoni said in the huddle that if we kept the energy up and saved 25-odd runs we could do it," Harbhajan said.