Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], December 19 : Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy's fantastic performance helped Team India register a 30-run win against South Africa in the fifth and final T20I at Narendra Modi Stadium here on Friday.
With this win, the Suryakumar Yadav-led Men in Blue won the five-match T20I series 3-1. This is also India's eighth consecutive T20I series win since 2023. While chasing a mammoth target of 232 runs, South Africa were restricted to 201/8 after some intelligent bowling by Indian bowlers.
South Africa started their chase with wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock smashing three fours against left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. De Kock didn't stop here as he smashed 23 runs against Arshdeep in the third over, as the Proteas reached 43/0.
Reeza Hendricks, on the other hand, played cautiously as de Kock played counterattacking cricket, which put pressure on the Indian bowlers. South Africa reached 50 runs in just 3.3 overs - their fifth-quickest team 50s in T20Is. After the first six overs, SA reached 67/0.
Varun Chakaravarthy got the first wicket as he removed Reeza Hendricks for 13 runs. The indian spinner broke the 69-run opening stand. Quinton reached his 18th T20I half-century in the eighth over as Proteas reached 76/1.
The ninth over went over 23 runs, and the 10th over went over 19 runs as South Africa reached a commanding position at 118/1 at the halfway mark.
Jasprit Bumrah got the much-needed wicket of de Kock during the second ball of the 11th over. The keeper-batter departed after scoring 63 runs off 35 balls, including nine fours and three sixes.
South Africa crumbled after Hardik Pandya removed Dewald Brevis (37) during the 12th over and Varun dismissed Aiden Markram (6) and Donovan Ferreira (0) in the consecutive deliveries of the 13th over.
Proteas never recovered from those quick wickets and lost the high-scoring match by 30 runs. For India, Varun (4/53), Arshdeep (1/47), Bumrah (2/17) and Pandya (1/41) were among the wicket-takers.
Earlier, after winning the toss, South Africa asked India to bat. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opened the innings for the hosts. Samson and Sharma gave India off to a flying start until Abhishek fell on 34 off 21, while taking a review down with him.
The opening stand gave India 54 runs in 34 balls. Tilak Varma joined Samson in the middle. India finished their power-play on 67-1.
In the 9th over, Samson was cleaned by George Linde for 37 runs off 22 balls, and Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav joined Varma in the middle. After 10 overs, India crossed the 100-run mark with Varma and Yadav unbeaten on the crease.
The duo aim to keep two-down India going against the Proteas in the series decider. Yadav's lean patch of runs continued as he was removed by Corbin Bosch for just five runs in the 13th over.
Hardik Pandya came in when Yadav fell. He creamed as many as 32 runs off the first eight balls he faced. In the 15th over, Varma slammed a four off Lungi Ngidi to bring up his sixth T20i fifty.
Tilak's milestone was quickly followed by Pandya's explosive 50, reached in just 16 balls - the second-fastest half-century by an Indian in men's T20Is.
Brief score: India 231/5 (Tilak Varma 73, Hardik Pandya 63; Corbin Bosch 2/44). Vs South Africa.
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