The Indian Cricket Team defeated South Africa in a dominant manner in the third T20I, a match where the Indian bowlers ran riot over the Proteas.
Today was the third of five India vs. South Africa T20Is, which was played in the shadow of the Himalayas at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. Before this game, the series stood at 1-1. India thrashed South Africa in the first match, while the visitors exacted revenge in the second.
India vs South Africa: India Thrash South Africa In 3rd T20I
The third match of the series saw the hosts win the toss and decide to bowl first on a pitch that saw the fresh ball swing around. While there was a substantial amount of dew falling in the picturesque tourist town, this particular stadium is known for taking several anti-dew measures. And hence, the moisture did not play a big role in this match.
Arshdeep Singh opened the bowling for India and looked great right from the first delivery. In his first over, the pacer trapped opener Reeza Hendricks in front of the stump and dismissed him for a duck.
Then, in the second over, Quinton de Kock was caught before the wicket as well, falling victim to Harshit Rana after scoring just a single run. At this point, the score was 1/2. Rana would take another wicket in the powerplay, this time dismissing the dangerous Dewald Brevis in the fourth over. The young batter caught the inside edge of his bat and was bowled.
The flow of falling wickets did not stop here, as right after the powerplay, in the seventh over, Tristan Stubbs departed, being caught behind and becoming Hardik Pandya’s 100th T20I wicket. At this point, the score was 30/4, and no departed player had scored in the double digits.
Corbin Bosch would make four before getting out in the 11th by Shivam Dube, bringing Donovan Ferreira to the crease. Ferreira joined captain Aiden Markram in holding the fort down for the next few overs. By the time Donovan departed for 20 off 15 in the 14th over, the score was 69/6.
Marco Jansen would come and go fairly quickly, followed by Aiden Markram’s wicket. Markram played the only respectful innings for South Africa in this match, making 61 off 46.
The Proteas’ tail would not provide much resistance, as the defending World Test Champions would be bowled out for 117 on the last ball of their allotted 20 overs.
In response, the Indian Cricket Team got off to a brilliant start to their inning. The pair of Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill made about 60 runs together in five overs before Sharma got out in the sixth for 35 off 18. Gill, on the other hand, despite having played some brilliant strokes, was reeling with his poor form and nearly got out on a few occasions in the powerplay.
After Abhishek’s wicket, the Indian innings slowed down dramatically. After batting for a strike rate of about 180 during the opening partnership, by the time Shubman got out in the 12th over, his final score was a run-a-ball 28. India, having not crossed the 100-run mark in the 12th over, was a massive sign of the inning slowing down.
None of the Indian batters, besides Abhishek Sharma, showed any urgency in reaching the minuscule target. After the fiery opener’s dismissal, there came a time when the Men in Blue did not score a single boundary for just under 37 balls.
Tilak Varma too played an underwhelming inning, making 26 off 34 at a dismal strike rate of 76.47. Captain Suryakumar Yadav looked quite unconvincing in all his time on the pitch but managed to survive as Shubman Gill, who came out to bat at No. 5, rushed to reach the finish line, hitting a six and a four to end the match in the 16th over.
India won the 3rd T20I of this five-match series by seven wickets with 25 balls to spare. With this result, the team has taken a lead heading into the final stretch of the Proteas tour to India.
As for the Player of the Match, one of the Indian bowlers was bound to take the award home. While Varun Chakravarthy bowled the best spell of the night, ending his four overs with 2/11 figures with an economy of 2.75, the honour went to Arshdeep Singh instead, whose two wickets played a bigger role in crippling the South African batting attack. He ended his four-over spell with the figures 2/13.
The fourth India vs South Africa match will be played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.
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