South Africa vs India 2018, 3rd T20I– 5 Things we learnt from the game

South Africa were brilliant in the second T20I when they chased 189 to level the series. The decider was a much-anticipated match as for the first time on this tour, a series had gone into a decider.

However, just before the game started, India suffered a solid blow as skipper Virat Kohli sat out due to a stiff back. Rohit Sharma walked out to lead the ‘Men in Blue’ as they made three changes. Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel got a game after they warmed the benches right throughout this limited-overs leg. South Africa also made a couple of changes as Aaron Phangiso and Christiaan Jonker (debut) replaced Dane Paterson and JJ Smuts.

Opting to field first, South Africa continued to drop catches as India posted 172 with all batsmen contributing. Chasing 173, South Africa were off to a pretty poor start as they could score only 25 in the powerplay. But skipper JP Duminy kept the hosts in the hunt with a valiant 55. But it was Christiaan Jonker who took them close.

With 53 required from the last three overs, the game looked beyond the Proteas. But Christiaan Jonker kept South Africa in the game as he struck some clean blows and scored 18 and 16 runs off Shardul and Bumrah’s final overs. However, Bhuvneshwar held his nerve and executed his plans brilliantly to hand India a 7-run victory and the series.

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#5 Junior Dala dismisses Rohit Sharma for the third consecutive time

Dala seems to have Rohit's number

Rohit Sharma has had a forgettable South African tour (barring the Port Elizabeth ODI). After a poor Test series, many believed that the Indian limited-overs opener would come into his own in the shorter formats. However, barring the 5th ODI (where he scored 115), Rohit Sharma didn’t have the best of tours.

After a couple of failures in the first two T20Is, Rohit walked out to lead the team in Virat Kohli’s absence. But his fortunes didn’t change as he fell to Junior Dala for the third consecutive time in the series (all dismissals coming in the second over of the innings). After getting a couple of boundaries in the first over, he was caught right in front as Dala beat him with a nip-backer for the second consecutive time. His dismissal was a carbon-copy of the 2nd game.

In 7 deliveries that Rohit faced from Dala, he scored only 4 runs (one boundary) and was dismissed 3 times. He became the first Indian batsman to be dismissed by the same bowler in 3 successive innings. He ended the T20I series with 32 runs (21, 0 and 11) at 10.66 and finished this under-par South African series with yet another failure.

#4 Junior Dala continues to impress

An excellent find for South Africa

He does have a slightly different action – he skips through the last part of his delivery stride, he bowls the difficult overs and does everything his team asks him to. Junior Dala has been one of the finds of the T20I series for South Africa.

After having returns of 2/47 and 2/28 in the first two games, Dala gave South Africa the perfect start even in the decider as he sent Rohit Sharma back for just 11. It was the third successive time Dala picked up his wicket in the series. In the powerplay, the right-arm pacer bowled two overs and conceded 14 runs. He came back in the 14th over and prized out the in-form Manish Pandey. However, his 4th over (19th of the innings) went for 15 runs and spoiled his figures but he took the wicket of MS Dhoni in his final over to finish with figures of 3/35.

Not only with the ball, Dala was impressive in the field as well. Just when Shikhar Dhawan was opening up and scoring freely, Dala ran the left-handed Indian opener out with a brilliant direct-hit from the deep mid-wicket boundary. He also saved a few runs in the field as he capped off a very good day.

#3 All Indian batsmen (top 7) get starts

Not a shabby day for Raina

For the third consecutive time, India were put into bat by South Africa. After a 13-run first over, Rohit Sharma departed in the second over of the innings. However, Raina changed the tempo of the powerplay as he was timing the ball very well. India reached 57/1 at the end of the powerplay and looked set for a big score.

However, with Dhawan struggling for timing and fluency and the spinners controlling things, the pressure got to Raina as he looked to break the shackles. He was out for a well-made 43 as he couldn’t capitalize on another start. After the UP batsman’s dismissal, Dhawan found his timing and along with Pandey, he added 32 runs in 20 deliveries. But both of them fell in the space of 2 overs as the Proteas applied the brakes on the scoring-rate.

Dhoni (12), Pandya (21) and Karthik (13) tried to score big in the death overs but fell while trying to go for the big shots.

In the end, India reached 172/7 at the end of 20 overs on a surface that was holding up a touch. The slower balls were gripping a little and hitting through the line wasn’t easy. Hence, 172 looked like a good total.

#2 South Africa started off poorly but showed fight till the end

A hard fought battle

With a required run-rate of 8.65 right from the start of the chase, you expect the chasing team to at least get off to a solid start. However, South Africa got off to a slow and a sedate start as they could reach only 25/1 at the end of the powerplay. With the required rate constantly mounting, the hosts were under pressure. But skipper JP Duminy kept them in the hunt as he found the boundary at regular intervals as the innings went on.

But once he was dismissed, the game looked dead and buried. But debutant Christiaan Jonker (who walked in at No. 5) had a superb debut as he took the hosts close with some clean striking. The fight the 31-year old debutant showed was brilliant. He did give India a scare with an unbeaten 24-ball 49. But it was not to be as his efforts went in vain. Eventually, the slow start proved to be the difference.

#1 India hold nerve to clinch the series

The bowlers too pitched in a well-spread effort

Defending 173, the Indian pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur bowled brilliantly in the powerplay. Bhuvneshwar was the standout as his first spell figures were 3-0-13-1. Bumrah and Shardul who combined to bowl the other 3 powerplay overs also showed very good control as South Africa managed just 25 runs in the first 6 overs.

On a pitch that was holding up a touch, all the three pacers varied their pace beautifully and the South African top order wasn’t allowed to get away. Hardik Pandya and Suresh Raina bowled very well in the middle overs and backed up the efforts of the pacers brilliantly.

However, things got very interesting at the death when South Africa tried to put the bowlers under pressure. Shardul and Bumrah were expensive in their respective final overs giving away 34 runs in their two overs but Bhuvneshwar bowled the last over very well and defended 19 to help India clinch the series.