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

#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.