India vs South Africa: Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel put up a spin masterclass as India beat South Africa in the 3rd T20I to keep the 5-match series alive.
Batting first for the third match in a row India got off to a flyer.
India’s new strategy of attacking throughout the 20 overs has been a hit and a miss so far but here they looked assured.
Both openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan batted took South African bowlers to cleaners with 57 runs coming in the PowerPlay.
Gaikwad was the aggressor in chief smashing five fours off Anrich Nortje’s first over. He reached international fifty off just 30 balls before being dismissed in the 10th over with 97 runs on board.
Ishan Kishan also reached his fifty in 31 balls but his wicket halted the momentum. South African bowlers pegged back the scoring in the last 50 balls.
Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik were dismissed cheaply and it was only the assault from Hardik Pandya who scored 31 from 21 balls that saw India reach 179 runs in 20 overs.
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South Africa never got going in their chase. India used their 5 frontline bowlers inside the PowerPlay as the visitors lost both openers including captain Temba Bavuma with the score 38/2 in first 6 overs.
From then on it was Yuzvendra Chahal who stifled the chase.
Rassie van der Dussen and Dwaine Pretorius were caught behind by Pant to balls that turned sharply across them. While David Miller was dismissed by Harshal Patel of a slower one with score 71/5 in 11 overs.
Klassen looked to provide some sort of resistance and hoped to take the match deep but with 5 overs remaining he fell to Chahal to effectively end the chase.
Harshal added the wickets of Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi at the end as South Africa were bowled out for 131 runs to give India a comprehensive 48-run win.
Brief scores: India vs South Africa 3rd T20I
India 179/5 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 57, Ishan Kishan 54; Dwaine Pretorius 2-29)
South Africa 131 in 19.1 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 29; Harshal Patel 4-25, Yuzvendra Chahal 3-20).