India squash South Africa in the third T20I to level series 1-1 and finish on a high

It was an electric display from the Men in Blue as they tamed the Proteas in the latter’s backyard in the final T20I to level the series at 1-1. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav shined bright in a high-octane display with the bat, while Kuldeep Yadav sizzled with a 5-wicket haul.

Winning the toss, South Africa opted to bowl first. The Indian openers did push forth for a while before Keshav Maharaj’s double whammy removed Shubman Gill (8) and Tilak Varma (0) in quick succession. However, the fall of Varma opened the Pandora’s box for the hosts as that brought in the Indian captain, Suryakumar to the crease. 

Jaiswal and SKY combined excellently to hammer away a 112-run stand for the third wicket before Tabraiz Shamsi got the better of the former for 60. Rinku Singh couldn’t add much resistance either as he departed for 14 against Nandre Burger, as his mis-hook was pouched by Tristan Stubbs at fine leg. From thereon, it was a one-man show as the Indian captain kept on attacking from one end while South Africa kept on chipping away at the wickets from the other.

India finished with 201/7 from their allotment of 20 overs as SKY top-scored with 100 from 56 balls while Keshav Maharaj and Lizaad Williams led the show for South Africa with four wickets between them.

As India came out to bowl, the bowlers hunkered down to business in no time whatsoever. It was in the second over of the innings that Mukesh Kumar got rid of Matthew Breetzke (4) as the latter dragged a delivery miles away from the off-stump onto his own timbre.

Reeza Hendricks (8), who was extraordinary in the second T20I was snuffed out by an electric piece of work by Mohammed Siraj, whose gun throw had the stumps at the non-striker’s end flattened. Heinrich Klaasen (5) was the next to go as his flat pull went straight into the hands of Rinku Singh at deep square leg.

The fall of Klaasen was followed by the departure of the skipper, Aiden Markram for 25, with Ravindra Jadeja claiming his first wicket of the evening. David Miller and Donovan Ferreira did try to push the South African innings forward but it felt more like a crawl instead of the flight that the Proteas were supposed to take in the face of the monumental total.

The introduction of Kuldeep Yadav changed the entire landscape of the game as he got rid of Ferreira (12), Maharaj (1), Burger (1), Williams (0) and Miller (35). Kuldeep’s late fifer sealed the fate of the contest and eventually allowed India to stage an excellent comeback in the series as they clinched a 106-run victory.