India trump South Africa in 5th T20I to continue incredible unbeaten streak with year-ending series win

New Delhi: India defeated South Africa by 30 runs in the fifth and final T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, to close out the year with another series win in the shortest format. The Men in Blue won the first, third and fifth T20Is to claim the series 3-1 and extend their remarkable unbeaten streak in T20Is to eight consecutive T20I series wins.

With the clinical win over the Proteas, India, with 14 undefeated bilateral T20I affairs, extended their remarkable unbeaten run (including 2023 Asian Games, 2024 T20 WC, and 2025 Asia Cup) in the 20-over format. Their last T20I series defeat came way back in August 2023 when they lost to the West Indies 2-3.

The final success of the year 2025 also extended India’s dominance under coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav with eight series wins on the trot.

India rode on incredible knocks of Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma, who smashed blazing half-centuries to help India post a massive 231/5 in 20 overs. While Hardik and Varma starred with the bat, Varun Chakravarthy shone with the ball with a four-wicket haul to help the hosts restrict the Proteas to 201/8.

Pandya was named player of the match for his whirlwind knock, while Chakravarthy won the Player of the Series award for picking up 10 wickets in the series.

Varma, Pandya set the tone for the win

Varma (73 off 42 balls) and Pandya (63 off 25 balls) showed their hitting prowess to entertain the Ahmedabad crowd, stitching a sensational 105-run stand off 44 balls for the fourth wicket. Pandya, in particular, was brutal to the South Africa attack, smashing the second-fastest fifty for India in just 16 balls. His astonishing knock comprised five boundaries and as many maximums.

Put into bat, India got off to a good start as comeback man Sanju Samsonwho opened the batting in place of the injured vice-captain Shubman Gill, struck a brisk 22-ball 37 and shared a 63-run partnership with Abhishek Sharma (34 off 21 balls).

Varma continued the momentum with an aggressive start and almost carried the bat before being run out on the penultimate ball of the innings. While all the others fired with the bat, skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s poor run continued as he scored just five runs.

Chakravarthy, Bumrah shine with the ball

Opener Quinton de Kock (65 off 35 balls) and Dewald Brevis (31 off 17) kept South Africa in the hunt during the run chase, but the visitors’ middle order collapsed in no time, once the two departed in successive overs.

Chakravarthy (4/53) dismissed skipper Aiden Markram and Donovan Ferreira off consecutive deliveries in the 13th over to take the sting out of South Africa’s chase. Jasprit Bumrah also bowled superbly to bag two wickets for just 17 runs.

After ending 2025 on a high, India will next play New Zealand in a white-ball series comprising three ODIs and five T20Is. The 20-over affair against the Kiwis will be the Men in Blue’s last bilateral assignment before their title defence of the T20 World Cup begins at home in February-March.