India produced a brilliant all-round performance to beat South Africa by seven wickets in the third T20I in Dharamsala on December 14, 2025, to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Opting to bowl in seam-friendly, cold weather, India’s fast bowlers quickly took wickets: Arshdeep Singh and debutant Harshit Rana reduced South Africa to 30/4. Captain Aiden Markram fought back, scoring 61 (46 balls), but with regular wickets falling—Varun Chakravarthy (2/11, completed 50 T20I wickets), Kuldeep Yadav (2 wickets), Hardik Pandya (1, his 100th T20I wicket), and Shivam Dubey (1)—the Proteas were all out for 117 runs in 20 overs.
Chasing the target was easy. Abhishek Sharma scored 35 runs in 18 balls in the powerplay, which gave momentum to the team. Shubman Gill (28) and Tilak Verma (25*) held the innings despite some minor stumbles—Suryakumar Yadav was out after scoring 12 runs—before Dubey (10*) finished the match in style and sealed the win in 15.5 overs. With this 20th T20I win against South Africa (in 34 matches), India overtook Australia’s record of 19 wins, which shows their consistency against a strong Proteas team.
**Most T20I wins against South Africa:**
– India: 20 (34 matches)
– Australia: 19 (28 matches)
– Pakistan/West Indies: 14-14
The impressive performance showcased India’s depth in white-ball cricket, with the seamers performing well in the lights and the batsmen taking advantage of the smaller targets. Now the series will move to Lucknow for the fourth T20I on 17th December.
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