After two back to back losses, hosts India made a strong comeback in the third T20I played in Vizag. With this win, India have kept themselves alive in the five-match T20I series.
Batting first, the Rishabh Pant-led side put up a total of 179 runs on the board in 20 overs. Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan were the star performers for India with the bat. The duo shared a partnership of 97 runs for the first wicket. Gaikwad scored 57 off 35 while Ishan Kishan scored 54 off 35. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik fell cheaply before Hardik Pandya chipped in with 31 runs.
Anrich Nortje and Keshav Maharaj had an off day with the ball. Maharaj picked up a wicket but leaked 24 runs in two overs while Nortje conceded 23 runs in two overs without taking a wicket. Dwaine Pretorius was South Africa’s best bowler on the day – he picked up two wickets for 29 runs in his full quota of four overs.
Chasing 180 runs to win, South Africa were bundled out for 131 in 19.1 overs. Reeza Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius, Heinrich Klaassen and Wayne Parnell got starts but were unable to convert them into significant knocks as Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel wreaked havoc. Patel picked up four wickets for 25 runs while Chahal picked three wickets for just 20 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Axar Patel also picked up a wicket each.
The fourth match will be played in Rajkot on Friday. South Africa currently lead the series 2-1.
Image credit: BCCI
