Resilient India end 2025 with T20I series-win over South Africa; when will they play next?
India hammered South Africa by 30 runs in the fifth and final T20I on Friday to win the series 3-1 in Ahmedabad. This was India's eight consecutive T20I series win.
New Delhi: India showcased all-round resilience to beat South Africa by 30 runs in the fifth and final T20I in Ahmedabad to seal the 5-match series 3-1. By virtue of this big victory, the Men in Blue ended the year 2025 on high and keeping in mind the forthcoming T20I assignment against New Zealand and the T20 World Cup next year, this series win comes up as a big boost.
Put into bat first, Indian rode on brilliant performances from the Tilak Varma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya to put up a massive total of 231/5 on the board in stipulated 20 overs. While Tilak top-scored for the side with 73 runs, Hardik, who scored a 16-ball fifty, ending up contributing 63 runs off 25 balls studded with 5 sixes and as many boundaries.
This was the second-fastest fifty by an Indian batter in the format. Apart from the two lethal knocks, openers Abhishek Sharma and comeback-man Sanju Samson gave the team a brilliant start with 34 and 37 runs respectively. While the chase seemed to be tough for the Proteas but Quinton de Kock gave the side some hope with a fiery knock of 65 runs in just 35 balls.
While his wicket gave India a breather, it was the end of South Africa's battle as they started to lose wickets at regular intervals from there on. Apart from De Kock, Dewald Brevis contributed valuable 31 runs for the Proteas while Varun Chakaravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah picked 4 and 2 wickets respectively for India.
Chakaravarthy was named the Player of the Series while Pandya was named the Player of the Match.
What's next for Team India?
For the next three weeks, India don't have any international assignment lined up and their next series would be against New Zealand in January 2026. The Kiwis would be touring India for a white-ball series comprising 3 ODI matches and 5 T20I games. The series will begin with the first ODI on January 11 in Vadodara and culminate with the fifth T20I match in Thiruvananthapuram on January 31.
The ODI series will also see the return of veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.