131/10 (19.1)
CRR : 6.83
179/5 (20.0)
CRR : 8.95
India won by 48 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Player
3/20
19.1
W
H Patel to T Shamsi
That's up in the air and is taken by Avesh Khan at long-on. Harshal gets the final wicket for India as Shamsi departs. Hard length into the pitch, Shamsi with 49 runs needed off 6 balls goes for the big one, gets the height and not the distance as Avesh completes the formalities. Shamsi departs for a golden duck as the Proteas are bowled out for 131 in 19.1 overs. A massive win for the Indians by 48 runs as they keep the series alive here at Vizag.
T Shamsi 0(1)
c A Khan b H Patel
4s/6s
0/0
SR
0.00
IND won by 48 runs
India wins the match by 48 runs and keeps the series alive, 1-2. Yuzi Chahal was the player of the match(4-20-3) and showed why he is the best leg spinner in the world! South Africa lost Bavuma early, courtesy Axar. Hendricks(23 off 20) and Dwaine Pretorius(20 off 16) got off to good starts but failed to carry it away. Rassie and David Miller were dismissed in single-digit scores. Klaasen(29 off 24) was the last recognized batsman but Chahal turned out to be too good for him as he got him while chasing an outside-off delivery! Parnell played a good little knock of 22 of 18 but it was just a mere formality!
Harshal Pate(3.1-25- 4) was also one of the best bowlers today and deceived the opposition with his slower ones Avesh Khan(4-35-0) still remains wicketless in this series! Bhuvi(4-21-1) was once again economical and bowled beautifully in the powerplay.
In the first innings, Gaikwad finally got off to a good start today, scoring 57 off 35, and stitched a brilliant 97 runs partnership with Ishan Kishan, who scored his second fifty of the series!
Pant once again looked off color as he was dismissed cheaply on 6 runs by Pretorius(4-29-2), who was the best African bowler today. Hardik Pandya played a good little cameo of 31 off 21 deliveries and took India to a fighting total of 179!
Shamsi and Nortje sprayed their lines a bit more than usual and were hit all over the park! Rabada(4-31-1) bowled some good lines and lengths.
Harshal Patel: "Pretty good. We wanted to execute the plans and unfortunately couldn't do it in the first two games. Glad, we could do it here and keep the series alive. It's how you look at it. We are following the process and happy to absorb the pressure and get the job done. It's all about adjusting to their game. First two games, I think I went to yorkers quickly and paid the price. Here, I hit the hard lengths and got the success and rewards for the team. I made them go hit through the line and got my success. Compared to Kotla, this was a slow pitch with no lateral movement. There was something in it for the spinners and that helped us put an all-around bowling performance. I think we have to take one game at a time and not look too far ahead. That will be our mantra going forward in the series."
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony by Murali Kartik.
Temba Bavuma, South Africa Losing Captain: "I think as a collective unit we were not quite there. India was the better side. We came back well in the back ten overs after they started well in the first ten. Then with the bat, we lacked partnerships and India won kudos to them they were the better team. I think our fielding was poor and lacked a bit in the batting. The first two matches were good for us. We lost too many wickets and it was too much to do for Miller and company. Quinton is an integral member of our side and we miss him. It's an opportunity for Reeza to do well and back him to do well in the coming games. We deserved to lose and will come back in the next game."
Rishabh Pant, India Winning Captain: "I thought we did the execution better with the bat and ball and we won. I thought we were 15 short, but we didn't think about that and did the job with the ball. I think in India, the spinners play an important role and they did their job well today. I don't think it's a problem, yes we need to improve our finishing and look at areas to improve ourselves. Nothing much to worry about, but a few areas to improve as well."
Yuzvendra Chahal, Player of The Match: "In the previous match, I was bowling quicker and that meant there was no turn for me. Today, I worked on bowling top spin and change a tad. I looked to turn the ball, slow it up and be unpredictable. Against Klaasen, I think I had to stick to my strengths and take wickets and not worry about economy rates. They try to reverse sweep now to put you off. We need to be prepared and we had plans B against the batters. I think the pitch was good for the spinners in the last game, but I bowled badly and today I bowled better and got the desired result. The next game is in Rajkot. You are right it's a Flat Pitch but the ground is big, bigger than all the grounds that we have seen so far. Looking forward to Rajkot."
That's it from our end today. India wins the third T20 and keep the series alive. It was all about Ruturaj and Ishan with the bat and Yuzi and Harshal with the ball. The fourth T20I is on Friday and India will look to carry on the momentum. Until then, this is Shubham Agarwal signing off along with my co-commentator Ayan Chatterjee and scorer/analyst Manish Bishnoi. Goodnight and stay safe!