India versus South Africa 3rd T20I: South Africa leveled the series with a convincing 9 wicket win
South Africa produced a dominating performance to level the
T20I series with a convincing 9 wicket in the third and final match played at M
Chinnamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to bat
first. Shikhar Dhawan made an aggressive start to the innings putting pressure
on South African bowlers. Kagiso Rabada got the breakthrough dismissing Rohit
Sharma cheaply for 9. Indian openers added 22 runs in 2.2 overs. Dhawan took
the attack to South African bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, India were 54 for
1.
As things were looking good for India, Shamsi got the
breakthrough dismissing Dhawan for 36. Dhawan and Kohli added 41 runs for the 2nd
wicket. Virat Kohli struggled for timing and was dismissed for 9. Pant played a few lovely shots before playing another bad shot. The Indian batsmen struggled
to score runs. From 63 for 2, India could only score 134 for 9 in 20 overs.
Kagiso Rabada was impressive with figures of 3 for 39, Beuran Hendricks and
Fortuin took 2 wickets each, Shamsi took 1 wicket.
Chasing down the target of 135 runs to win, Quinton de Kock and
Reeza Hendricks played with caution in first few overs before taking on the
Indian bowlers. At the end of 6 overs,
South Africa were 43 for 0.
After the power play overs, de Kock continued the good form
that he displayed in the 2nd T20I at Mohali and created pressure on
Indian bowlers. Hardik Pandya got the breakthrough dismissing Reeza Hendricks
for 28. Hendricks and de Kock added 76 runs. De Kock played with positive
intent and reached his fifty off 38 balls. Bavuma showed his class and made the
batting look easy. It was a cakewalk for the South African team as they won the
3rd T20I by 9 wickets with 19 balls to spare. De Kock and Bavuma
added unbeaten 64 runs for 2nd wicket.
South Africa 140 for 1 in 16.5 overs ( De Kock 79*, Hardik
Pandya 1/23) beat India 134 for 9 in 20 overs ( Shikhar Dhawan 36, Rabada 3/39,
Beuran Hendricks 2/14) by 9 wickets.
The series has been leveled with India winning the 2nd
T20I by 7 wickets while South Africa winning the 3rd T20I. First
T20I at Dharamshala was washed out due to rain.
 |
| South Africa level the series with a convincing 9 wicket win |
Comments