NEW DELHI: India’s fast bowlers delivered a breathtaking exhibition of swing bowling to dismantle South Africa for a modest 117 in the third T20I of the five-match series in Dharamsala on Sunday. Making full use of the helpful conditions after opting to bowl, the hosts seized control early and never let it slip.
Arshdeep Singh (2/13), Harshit Rana (2/34), and Hardik Pandya (1/23) spearheaded the attack, ripping through the South African top order with the new ball. Under a cool evening sky, the Indian quicks extracted sharp swing and seam movement, leaving the visitors struggling to cope.
The damage was evident during a subdued powerplay, which yielded just 25 runs for the loss of three wickets and featured only two boundaries. South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram provided the lone resistance with a valiant 61 off 46 balls, but support from the other end was sorely lacking.
Innings Break!
A terrific collective show by the #TeamIndia bowlers
Chase on the other side ⏳
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/AJZYgMAHc0#INDvSA , @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/wLjHQjkyfO
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 14, 2025
Arshdeep, eager to make amends after a difficult outing at Mullanpur, struck early with a probing opening spell. After repeatedly shaping the ball away from Reeza Hendricks, he brought one back sharply to trap the opener leg-before, a decision confirmed via DRS. Harshit Rana followed suit by nipping one back into Quinton de Kock, catching the left-hander rooted to the crease.
Dewald Brevis then fell attempting an ambitious release shot, undone by a wide delivery that jagged back to hit the stumps. Reduced to 7 for 3 inside the first four overs, South Africa were left facing a steep uphill battle from which they never recovered.
Markram crunched a couple of sweet drives in between to keep the board moving but Tristan Stubbs and Corbin Bosch departed in quick succession to further derail South African innings.
Hardik Pandya rewrites T20I history books with jaw-dropping milestone
Stubbs’ wicket helped all-rounder Pandya to complete 100 wickets in T20Is, the third Indian bowler to do so after Arshdeep and Jasprit Bumrah, who did not play this match after returning home to attend to a personal situation.
The BCCI said his availability for the remainder of the series will be announced in due course.
Spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/11 in 4 overs) also reached a milestone, capturing his 50th T20I wicket while flattening the stumps of Donovan Ferreira (20, 15 balls).
The big-hitting Ferreria was dropped on 13 by Arshdeep at long-on off Shivam Dube, but that did not hurt India.
Chakravarthy cut open the lower-order with his bottomless bag of tricks as the pitch also continued to offer good pace and carry.
The spinner also added the wicket of Marco Jansen to keep South Africa pinned to the mat.
Markram completed his fifty off 41 balls with a slashed six off Rana, as the 18th over produced 19 runs. But the South African surge came too late.
(With PTI Inputs)
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