Razeen Gutta
The Proteas squandered a chance to wrap up the T20 international series in India this afternoon. The hosts pulled one back in Visakhapatnam, leaving the five match series 2-1 in South Africa’s favour with two games still to play.
After being put into bat at the ground that’s renowned for successful chases, India’s openers got off to a fantastic start — seeing out the powerplay without losing a wicket and then keeping the run rate on a high all the way through to the midway mark of the innings.
Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 57 off 35 balls while his partner Ishan Kishan made 54 off 35. When the openers had departed, India were 131/3 with six overs still to play and finishers Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik plus captain Rishabh Pant still to bat.
Pant misfired thanks to an in-form Dwayne Pretorius while Karthik fell to Kagiso Rabada at the back end of the innings. Hardik Pandya put up an unbeaten 31 off 21 deliveries to see India through to a score of 179/5 in their 20 overs.
The chase looked like an uphill battle from the onset with Indian spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal, along with variation specialist Harshal Patel, making breakthroughs at regular intervals.
Eleven overs in, the Proteas had lost their entire top order — with the run rate under seven compared to their required nine. And while Heinrich Klaasen remained at the crease, there was hope for South Africa.
However, his departure just before the final five overs meant it was the beginning of the end — with the visitors ultimately getting bowled out for 131 with five balls to spare.
Harshal picked up 4/25 while Chahal got 3/20 — seeing India through to a win in a game where they had no chance but to turn up. The fourth T20 is yet again a must-win for the hosts, kicking off at 15:30 on Friday live from Rajkot.
