India has managed to win the Visakhapatnam T20I against South Africa by 48 runs on Tuesday. Consequently, the hosts are alive in the five-match series 1-2, while the netizens are satisfied.
It has been a remarkable comeback performance from India in the third Twenty20 International (T20I) against South Africa. The hosts played at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday and won the contest by 48 runs, thus staying alive in the five-match series while they still trail by 1-2. It was an all-round performance from the Men in Blue, with the openers and the Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal dominating with the ball. In the meantime, the netizens were satisfied by the performance, as they applauded the Men in Blue.
India lost its third straight toss under Rishabh Pant's captaincy and was invited to bat first again. Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (57) and Ishan Kishan (54) put on 97 runs, while the former slammed his maiden T20I half-century before falling to orthodox spinner Keshav Maharaj in the tenth over. It was followed by a 31-run partnership between the latter and Shreyas Iyer (14) before Kishan scored his fourth T20I 50, and the latter fell to chinaman spinner Tabraiz Shamsi in the 13th.
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In the following over, Kishan was dismissed by pacer Dwayne Pretorius after three runs, while India lost some quick wickets thereon before finishing on 179/5, as Hardik Pandya stayed unbeaten on 31. For SA, it was Pretorius who bagged a couple and was also the most economical one from his side. In reply, the Proteas started shakily, losing a couple for 38 by the sixth over of the powerplay.
Eventually, it was down to 71/5 by the 11th, as it struggled to build proper stands. Heinrich Klaasen (29) and Wayne Parnell (21*) added 29 for the sixth wicket before the former fell to pacer Harshal. Thereon, there was a lack of partnerships again, as the Indian bowlers bowled tight and hardly gave the South African batters any room to explode.
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Ultimately, the Proteas were bundled out for 131 by the final over, as the Men in Blue got the job done by a massive 48 runs. For the Indians, Harshal was magical with a four-for, while leg-spinner Chahal claimed three and was heavily economical. The fourth game happens Friday at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
Brief scores: IND 179/5 (Gaikwad- 57, Kishan- 54, Pandya- 31*; Pretorius- 2/29) beat SA 131 in 19.1 overs (Klaasen- 29; Harshal- 4/25, Chahal- 3/20) by 48 runs.
