Cricket: South Africa suffer second T20I series collapse as India take 2-1 lead in Dharamshala

by Devesh Jaganath

image Cricket: South Africa suffer second T20I series collapse as India take 2-1 lead in Dharamshala
We have now reached the halfway point of the five-match T20I series between India and South Africa, and it is the Men in Blue who have regained the lead. The Proteas are now 2-1 down after a dismal display in Dharamshala and have to find a way to bounce back in Lucknow to keep the series alive.

India secure seven-wicket victory in third T20I against Proteas

It was a forgettable day for the South African cricket team, as they confirmed our cricket predictions by crumbling to a seven-wicket defeat to India at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala on Sunday and are now 2-1 down in the five-match series. 

After winning the toss, Suryakumar Yadav asked the visitors to bat, a move that paid almost immediate dividends with Arshdeep Singh knocking over Reeza Hendricks for a three-ball duck before Harshit Rana dismissed Quinton de Kock for just one run in the second over. 

The fired-up Indian attack continued to take wickets at regular intervals and had reduced the Proteas to 44/5 by the 10th over. However, it could have been a lot worse for the visitors had it not been for their skipper Aiden Markram’s knock of 61 from 46 deliveries. 

Only Markram, Donovan Ferreira (20) and Anrich Nortje (12) managed to reach double-digits for South Africa, as the team were only able to post a target of 117 runs in their 20 overs.

India’s opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill produced their best partnership of the series, scoring 60 runs in just over five overs before the former was dismissed by Corbin Bosch. However, the match was already out of the visitors' hands by that point.

Despite another cheap dismal for Yadav, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube saw the Men in Blue over the line with more than four overs to spare, putting their team in the driver's seat heading to Lucknow for the fourth T20I on Wednesday, December 17. 

India’s pace attack bonuce back from poor showing in Punjab

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While the wicket in Lucknow favoured bowlers, India would have been extremely relieved to see their pace attack return to form after a dismal performance in the second T20I in Punjab last week. 

Arsheep Singh finished wicketless and went for 54 runs in the last match, which included a marathon over that produced seven wides, but he bounced back strongly on Sunday, claiming two wickets for just 13 runs (3.25 econ) in his four overs. 

The Men in Blue also opted to replace their star bowler Jasprit Bumrah with Harshit Rana, a move that proved effective, with Rana picking up two scalps for 34 runs, while the third pace bowler used, Hardik Pandya, took 1/23 in three overs. 

India’s spin trio of Varun Chakaravarthy, Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav shared five wickets between them in a combined nine overs, with Chakaravarthy only conceding a mere 11 runs (2.75 econ) in his four-over allotment.