The visitors have a secure 2-1 series lead, as they’ve clinched a clutch win at Centurion against the Proteas. At one point it looked like SA would stage the ultimate turnaround, but they fell shot by just 11 runs.
Once again the hosts had opted to bowl first, and once again Sanju Samson departed without scoring. However, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma were never deterred. Both left-handers took full toll of the Powerplay – one managed to break out of the funk and notch up a well-made half-century, while the other put together a T20 batting masterclass.
Pace continued to go the journey, but it was the introduction of Keshav Maharaj that finally stemmed the flow of runs. Abhishek was out stumped, and Andile Simelane dismissed skipper Suryakumar Yadav for the second time in 3 games.
The Proteas continued to fight, as Maharaj struck again to remove Hardik Pandya, but following the strategic timeout, Varma dealt some serious blows to boost the run rate. Rinku Singh couldn’t get it going, but Ramandeep Singh struck a couple of boundaries on debut. Varma spearheaded some priceless back-end hitting and brought up a first T20I century.
Marco Jansen impressed with his improved death bowling, and both Simelane and Maharaj finished with two wickets apiece. However, much of the rest of the bowling was wayward and too expensive as a result.
SA had another massive chase on their plate, and didn’t quite race out of the blocks during the Powerplay. Rickelton briefly entertained but couldn’t kick on, as was the case with Hendricks.
Multiple dot balls in the middle overs didn’t help their cause, as Markram and Stubbs struggled for timing. The captain finally opened up in the 10th over, but hit a half-tracker straight to Ramandeep at deep midwicket after two towering sixes.
Heinrich Klaasen found his range early, but David Miller scratched around for much of his stay. The left-hander would finally connect off Pandya, but a leaping catch from Axar Patel ended his knock at a run-a-ball 18.
Klaasen had taken down the dangerous mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy for 23 runs, but it was Marco Jansen who nearly pulled off the unthinkable. The tall allrounder smacked Ravi Bishnoi’s final two deliveries for maximums, and plundered 26 runs off the penultimate over from Pandya.
All of a sudden, there was a slight outside chance for a win. But it was Arshdeep’s skills that gave India the upper hand, much like the T20 World Cup final. Jansen brought up a 16-ball half-century, but was trapped LBW the next delivery. The middle-overs lull proved costly for SA, as they fell agonizingly short again.
Fortunately, there’s still a chance to square the series at the Bullring on Friday.
IND 219/6 in 20 overs (Verma 107*, Abhishek 50 – Maharaj 4-0-36-2, Jansen 4-0-28-1)
SA 208/7 in 20 overs (Jansen 54, Klaasen 51 – Arshdeep 4-0-37-3, Axar 4-0-29-1)
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