India are on a record-breaking spree as they have now sealed the three-T20I series against the Proteas in South Africa by 2-1. The sub-continental side registered their first ever 3-match T20I series win against the Rainbow nation.

After losing the Test-series, India came out of their shell and showed great character to dominate in the limited-overs series. They thrashed South Africa by 5-1 in the ODI series which was followed by another T20I series-win on Saturday.

Winning the toss, South Africa opted to bowl first. Rohit Sharma led the Men in Blue in place of unfit Kohli. India lost their first wicket at 14 as Junior Dala dismissed Rohit. The same bowler had later dismissed Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni on 13 and 12 runs, respectively.

Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina shared a 65-runs stand to restore the Indian innings. Tabraiz Shamsi sent Raina back to the hut on 43 runs and Dhawan was out by Chris Morris scoring 47 runs. Hardik Pandya was also dismissed by Morris scoring 21 runs.

South Africa did not seem to be dangerous enough in front of the opponents’ tight bowling. However, the scenario changed after debutant Christian Jonker stepped into the ground to bat at no. 5. He amassed 49 off 24 to turn an already-decided match into a nail-biting finish.

In the meantime, Jean-Paul Duminy serenely picked up his half-century and left the crease on 55 runs as Shardul Thakur got him out. While no other batsmen showed enough firmness to face the Indian bowling attack, Jonker tried to take the responsibility and batted beautifully and Farhaan Behardien tried to support him with his cameo of 15 off 6 deliveries.

With Jonker’s aggressive batting, South Africa posted 56 runs in the last 4 overs. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped the wicket of Jonker in the last ball of the innings to prevent the hosts from creating any trouble.

Suresh Raina was awarded the Man of the Match for his all-round performance as his sensible batting in the 1st innings was followed by the dismissal of David Miller in the next innings of the game.

South Africa posted 165 runs and lost the match by 7 runs. With some of their crucial players absent due to injuries, the Proteas tried to perform their best against an Indian side that also had its captain sidelined due to a stiff back. 

 

IND - 172/7 (20.0 Overs)
SA - 165/6 (20.0 Overs)
India won by 7 runs