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India hammered South Africa by seven wickets in the 3rd T20I at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Sunday, December 14, to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. The hosts produced a dominant display with the bat and the ball to bounce back to winning ways after their defeat in the 2nd T20I in New Chandigarh.
The bowlers, led by Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, helped India dominate the proceedings after the skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bat first. Arshdeep let the new ball do the talking and combined with Rana to run through South Africa's top order to bundle the visitors out for a paltry 117 runs in 20 overs.
In reply, Abhishek Sharma got India off to a flying start in the run chase with a blistering knock of 35 off 18 balls. The swashbuckling left-hander looked in a hurry to wrap up the chase and set the tone with his attacking innings at the top to help India make the light work of the 118-run target as the hosts won by 7 wickets with 25 balls to spare.
Abhishek opened the batting with Shubman Gill and made his intentions clear from the word go as he smashed a six off Lungi Ngidi off the very first ball he faced in India's run chase. There was no stopping the left-hander as he got off to a flyer, taking the Proteas bowlers to the cleaners.
Gill survived an early scare as he was saved by an inside edge after an lbw appeal from Marco Jansen went in South Africa's favour. The right-hander, who has been facing intense pressure over his poor form in T20Is, scored a run-a-ball 28 to play support to Abhishek, who terrorised the Proteas bowlers from the other end.
Abhishek's 35 off 18 was laced with three sixes and as many fours as he added 60 runs for the first wicket with Gill, who hit five fours enroute to his 28 off as many deliveries. After the duo's departure, Tilak Varma scored an unbeaten 25, and Shivam Dube remained not out on 10 off 4 balls to help India get overthe line comfortably in 15.5 overs.
Skipper Suryakumar flopped again as his poor run with the willow continued in the 3rd T20I against South Africa. The Indian skipper, who has gone without a century for 21 innings in T20Is, was dismissed cheaply on 12 off 11 balls after getting caught by Ottneil Baartman of Lungi Ngidi's bowling.
With Jasprit Bumrah missing the game due to personal reasons, the pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana stepped up for India. Arshdeep struck in the very first over to remove Proteas opener Reeza Hendricks on a duck, before Rana dismissed Quinton de Kock cheaply on 1 off 3 balls in the next over.
The duo combined to run through South Africa's top order as Rana cleaned up Dewald Brevis cheaply on 2, while Arshdeep dismissed half-centurion Aiden Markram, who waged a lone battle for his team with a fighting 61 off 46 balls. Both Arshdeep and Rana finished with two wickets apiece.
After their early strikes, South Africa failed to recover as they were eventually bowled out for 117 runs in 20 overs. Spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav also contributed with the ball, with two wickets apiece. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube also managed a wicket each for India in the game.
Pandya dismissed Tristan Stubbs on 9 off 13 balls to finish with figures of 1/23 off his 3 overs and become the third Indian bowler to complete 100 wickets in T20Is after Arshdeep and Bumrah. He also became the first Indian cricketer to achieve the rare double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is.
India are set to miss Bumrah in the 4th T20I at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday, but will be hoping to continue their winning run as they look to seal the series with an unassailable 3-1 lead.
