South Africa leveled the T20I series with a convincing 9-wicket win in the third and final match played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Sunday.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and surprisingly, decided to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan made an aggressive start to the innings putting pressure on South African bowlers. Kagiso Rabada got the breakthrough dismissing Rohit Sharma cheaply for 9. Indian openers added 22 runs in 2.2 overs. Dhawan took the attack to South African bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, India were 54 for 1.
Shamsi got the breakthrough dismissing Dhawan for 36. Dhawan and Kohli added 41 runs for the 2nd wicket. Virat Kohli struggled for timing and was dismissed for 9. Pant played a few lovely shots before playing another bad shot and throwing away his wicket. The Indian batsmen struggled to score runs. From 63 for 2, India could only score 134 for 9 in 20 overs. Kagiso Rabada was impressive with figures of 3 for 39, Beuran Hendricks and Fortuin took 2 wickets each, Shamsi took 1 wicket.
Chasing a target of 135 runs, Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks played with caution in first few overs before taking on the Indian bowlers. At the end of the Powerplay, South Africa were beautfully placed at 43 for 0.
After the power play overs, de Kock continued the good form that he displayed in the 2nd T20I at Mohali and created pressure on Indian bowlers. Hardik Pandya got the breakthrough dismissing Reeza Hendricks for 28 – courtesy, another Kohli special (catch). Hendricks and de Kock had added 76 runs for the first wicket. De Kock played with positive intent and reached his fifty off just 38 balls. Bavuma showed his class and made batting look easy. It was a cakewalk for the Proteas as they won the match by 9 wickets with 19 balls to spare. De Kock and Bavuma added unbeaten 64 runs for 2nd wicket.
The impactful left-arm seam bowling of Beuran Hendricks got him the Man-of-the-Match award, while a breezy 79* today to follow up a promising 35+ score in the 2nd T20i got Quinton de Kock the Man-of-the-Series award.
South Africa 140 for 1 in 16.5 overs ( De Kock 79*, Hardik Pandya 1/23) beat India 134 for 9 in 20 overs ( Shikhar Dhawan 36, Rabada 3/39, Beuran Hendricks 2/14) by 9 wickets.
The series has been leveled with India winning the 2nd T20I by 7 wickets while South Africa winning the 3rd T20I. First T20I at Dharamshala was washed out due to rain.
