IND vs SA 3rd T20I: India beat Proteas by 48 runs to stay alive in series
India’s all-round performance helped South Africa beat South Africa by 48 runs in the third T20I of the five-match series at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday (June 14).
With this do or die win, India has opened its account in the five-match T20 series. With the series still 2-1 in favor of the visitors, the fourth T20I will be played on Friday at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Gujarat.
Batting first, a 97-run partnership between Ruturaj Gaikwad (57) and Ishan Kishan (54) took India to 179/5 in the allotted 20 overs. The first innings was worth watching as India dominated the first half of the innings, but South Africa pulled back their momentum in the second half.
4/25 . Harshal Patel is our top performer since the second innings for his excellent bowling figures of
Have a look at his bowling summary @Paytm #INDvSA | @HarshalPatel23 pic.twitter.com/OslHOwlGyS – BCCI (@BCCI) June 14, 2022
In reply, the Proteas never looked like a go-to as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bundled out for 131 runs off five balls. For the Men in Blue, Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel acted with the ball as they picked up three and four wickets respectively, leaving the visitors to chase. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Axar Patel took one wicket each.
Chasing 180, South Africa got off to a poor start as they lost two wickets for just 28 runs in the first six overs. Axar Patel took the wicket of South Africa captain Temba Bavuma in the fourth over before Harshal Patel dismissed Reeza Hendrix on the last ball of the Powerplay.
Yuzvendra Chahal then joined the wicket-taking party in the middle overs as he broke the backbone of the visitors’ batting order. The spinner dismissed Rassie van der Dussen for his first wicket of the match in the seventh over before dismissing Dwayne Pretorius in the ninth over.
Halfway into the innings, SA was 63/4 and the last ten overs of the 117-run chase were still required. The trouble for the visitors increased when Chahal dismissed the dangerous looking Heinrich Klaasen for 29 runs in the 15th over.
Harshal Patel hit a four in the 17th and final over of the match, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar grabbed a wicket and forced SA to bundle out for 131 in the second over with five balls to play.
#TeamIndia won the 3rd T20I by 48 runs and kept the series alive.
Scorecard – https://t.co/mcqjkCj3Jg #INDvSA @Paytm pic.twitter.com/ZSDSbGgaEE – BCCI (@BCCI) June 14, 2022
Earlier, India got off to a good start when South Africa came out to bat first. Openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad were somewhat cautious in the first four overs and swung the strike quickly between the wickets with some occasional hits.
But Gaikwad fell prey to dangerous pacer Enrique Nortje in the fifth over, hitting him for five consecutive fours, giving the innings a lot of momentum.
By the end of the powerplay in six overs, India stood on a legendary 57/0 with Gaikwad (40*) and Kishan (13*) at the crease.
Gaikwad continued to look good and soon completed his maiden T20I fifty in 30 balls. Ishan Kishan also continued to showcase his aggressive intent with the bat, pairing it with some decent strike rotation.
The Proteas got success in the last ball of the 10th over after Gaikwad was dismissed for 57 for 35. Spinner Keshav Maharaj bowled the opener with a brilliant diving catch.
At the end of 10 overs, India stood on 971 with Kishan (36*). This brought Shreyas Iyer to the crease. He hit a big six in the 11th over to dismiss Nortje. Kishan continued to dominate the Proteas bowlers, hitting Maharaj for 4,6,4 in the last three balls of the 12th over to complete his second half-century in just 30 balls.
Iyer was saved in the 13th over by a leg before the wicket of off-spinner Tabrez Shamsi. However, the Proteas made a mini comeback two balls later by taking their wicket of 14 for 11.
Second fifty of the series for @ishankishan51!
Follow the match https://t.co/mcqjkCj3Jg #TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/bobBTMckOO – BCCI (@BCCI) June 14, 2022
This brought skipper Rishabh Pant to the crease. Pretorius took the second wicket in two overs giving Kishan 54 runs off 35. Kishan tries to make it big on the Deep Extra cover but is caught by Reeza Hendrix. This brought the vice-captain Hardik Pandya to the crease.
At the end of 15 overs, India stood at 138/3 with Pandya (4*) and Pant (4*). Captain Pant recorded another failure in his outing as captain, scoring only 6 runs off a pretorious delivery after being caught by South African skipper Temba Bavuma.
At 143/4, it looked like India lost a lot of momentum in the first ten overs. Dinesh Karthik came to bat ahead. He could not repeat his finishing mode from the last game and was sent back for only 6 by Kagiso Rabada after being caught by Wayne Parnell on third man.
With some hits from Pandya (31*) and new batsman Axar Patel (5*), India finished the innings at 179/5 in their 20 overs. Dwayne Pretorius was the leading bowler for South Africa with 2/29 in four overs. Rabada, Shamsi and Maharaj also got a wicket each.
Brief Scores: India 179 for 5 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 57, Ishan Kishan 54; Dwaine Pretorius 2/29) South Africa 131 in 19.1 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 29, Reeza Hendrix 23; Harshal Patel (4/25), Yuzvendra Chahal 3/20)