Dharamshala: In chilly climes and seam-bowling friendly conditions, India registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory over South Africa in the third T20I at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala Sunday, and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
After the spinners and seamers combined to bundle out South Africa for 117 in seam-friendly conditions, India chased down 118 with 25 balls to spare. Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav picked two wickets apiece, while Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube chipped in with a scalp each, as South Africa never recovered from being reduced to 30/4 inside seven overs.
India’s chase was powered by Abhishek Sharma, who smashed 35 off 18 balls in the powerplay. Shubman Gill (28) and Tilak Varma (25 not out) struggled for fluency, while Suryakumar Yadav fell for 12. But Abhishek’s early assault meant the target was always within reach, as Shivam Dube (10 not out) finished the job with some clean hitting.
India’s chase began in explosive fashion as Abhishek took Lungi Ngidi apart in the opening over – pulling for six, glancing for four and lofting over cover for another boundary. The left-hander struck three more boundaries in his 35 off 18 balls before South Africa captain Aiden Markram produced an excellent running catch at long-off to end his stay, though by then India were well ahead of the asking rate.
On the other hand, Gill, after surviving an LBW appeal against Marco Jansen, struck him for boundaries, before taking a brace of fours off Ottniel Baartman. Promoted to number three, Tilak Varma opened his account with a steer to third man off Corbin Bosch and added further boundaries via edges and clips to keep India’s chase firmly on track.
But with seam movement on offer, Gill never looked set, and his scratchy stay came to an end in the 12th over when he chopped on to his stumps against a length delivery angled in around fourth stump by Jansen. Suryakumar teed off with back-to-back boundaries off Lungi Ngidi – a lofted drive over long-off was followed by pulling a back-of-length delivery over midwicket.
But Ngidi had the last laugh as Suryakumar shaped for his trademark clip over fine leg, but holed out in the deep. Dube applied the finishing touches by lofting over long-on off Baartman for an 80-metre six, before pulling a short ball through midwicket for four to seal a dominant win for India.
Brief Scores: South Africa 117 all out (Aiden Markram 61, Donovan Ferreira 20; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-11, Kuldeep Yadav 2-12) lost to India 120/3 in 15.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 35, Shubman Gill 28; Corbin Bosch 1-18, Lungi Ngidi 1-23) by seven wickets
