DHARAMSHALA, Himachal Pradesh — India rode a dominant bowling performance and a brisk powerplay assault from Abhishek Sharma to register a comfortable seven-wicket victory over South Africa in the third T20I at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday, taking a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
On a chilly evening with plenty of assistance for seam bowlers, India dismissed South Africa for 117 and then chased down the target in just 15.5 overs, with 25 balls to spare.
India’s bowlers shared the spoils after South Africa collapsed to 30 for four inside the first seven overs. Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav claimed two wickets each, while Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube picked up one apiece. The visitors never fully recovered despite a fighting half-century from captain Aiden Markram.
Abhishek set the tone in the chase with an explosive 35 off 18 balls, ensuring India stayed well ahead of the required rate. Shubman Gill made 28 but struggled for fluency, while Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on 25. Suryakumar Yadav contributed 12 before falling, and Dube sealed the win with a cleanly struck six and four late in the innings.
India began the chase in emphatic fashion as Abhishek attacked Lungi Ngidi in the opening over, pulling and lofting him for boundaries. The left-hander struck three more fours before Markram pulled off a sharp running catch at long-off to dismiss him, though by then India had seized early control.
Gill survived an early lbw scare against Marco Jansen before finding the boundary a few times, while Tilak, promoted to No. 3, kept the scoreboard ticking with edges and well-placed shots. Gill’s scratchy innings ended in the 12th over when he chopped on against Jansen, and Suryakumar was dismissed soon after, holing out off Ngidi while attempting a trademark clip.
Dube then finished the chase in style, launching an 80-metre six over long-on off Ottniel Baartman before pulling a short ball through midwicket for four to complete a dominant win.
Earlier, Markram anchored South Africa’s innings with a fluent 61 off 46 balls, but found little support as only Donovan Ferreira (20) and Anrich Nortje (12) reached double figures. India’s attack exploited the helpful conditions despite missing Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel.
Arshdeep struck early by trapping Reeza Hendricks lbw after finding movement outside off stump. Rana followed up by dismissing Quinton de Kock lbw and then castling Dewald Brevis. Pandya reached the milestone of 100 T20I wickets when Tristan Stubbs nicked behind to wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma.
Dube continued the pressure by flattening Corbin Bosch’s leg stump, while Chakravarthy removed Ferreira and Marco Jansen with successive googlies. Markram counterattacked with crisp strokes, bringing up his fifty off 41 balls, but his innings ended when he edged Arshdeep behind. Kuldeep wrapped up the innings by dismissing Nortje and Baartman in the final over, keeping South Africa below 120.
Brief scores: South Africa 117 all out (Aiden Markram 61, Donovan Ferreira 20; Varun Chakravarthy 2-11, Kuldeep Yadav 2-12) lost to India 120/3 in 15.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 35, Shubman Gill 28; Corbin Bosch 1-18, Lungi Ngidi 1-23) by seven wickets. (Source: IANS)
