South Africa vs India 2018, 3rd T20I: Things which went right for the visitors

India produced yet another clinical performance to end their 52-day tour of the Rainbow Nation on a high as they defeated South Africa by seven runs at Cape Town on Saturday.

The visitors, who were asked to bat first, posted 172/7 in their 20 overs with Shikhar Dhawan (47) and Suresh Raina (43) leading the way. But, despite a half-century from stand-in captain JP Duminy and a fine 49 on debut from Christiaan Jonker, the Proteas fell seven runs short of their target of 173, ending on 165/6.

With the win at Newlands, the Men in Blue claimed the three-match T20I series 2-1.

Now, let us find out the factors that led to India's win.

#5 Shikhar Dhawan-Suresh Raina partnership

India were put in to bat after Proteas skipper JP Duminy won the toss. Virat Kohli was ruled out of the match due to a stiff back, and Rohit Sharma was declared the stand-in skipper.

Once again, Rohit perished cheaply, as he was trapped in front of the wickets by Junior Dala.

Then, a 65-run partnership between Suresh Raina (43) and Shikhar Dhawan (47) steadied the ship for the visitors.

However, India struggled a bit after the duo's dismissal and only a late surge from Hardik Pandya (21 off 17) and Dinesh Karthik (13 off 6) saw them through to their eventual total of 172/7, which initially looked slightly below par at Newlands, Cape Town.

In the end, India's target proved to be a stiff chase for the hosts as South Africa lost the match by 7 runs.

"Especially in the first overs, you need to show intent. Thanks to Virat and Ravi bhai, they gave me the licence. The way we played, the dressing room atmosphere is so calm. The last we have done in two-and-a-half months, no team has done it in a long time. Two lefties at the crease, I got a ball, and working on it", said Man of the Match, Suresh Raina.

The 3rd T20I Player of the Match award goes to @ImRaina after a dynamic batting display and a crucial wicket with the ball! #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/mCjjc1cSOY

— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2018

#South Africa's batting falls short

South Africa's stand-in skipper JP Duminy led from the front hitting an unbeaten 64 off 40 balls as South Africa chased down 189 in the 19th over to draw level in the T20I series at Centurion on Wednesday.

And once again, Duminy (55) was the one who led the hosts to 109 inside 16 overs, while wickets kept falling regularly at the other end.

Chasing 173 to win, South Africa suffered an early setback when they lost opener Reeza Hendricks early but the partnership between Duminy and David Miller looked promising.

Miller (24) was soon dismissed by Suresh Raina and Heinrich Klassen (7) couldn't produce anything exceptional this time.

Debutant Christiaan Jonker played an incredible knock of 49 but eventually, the hosts fell short by 7 runs.

#3 Indian bowlers striking at regular intervals

Other than Axar Patel, who was brought in as a replacement for Yuzvendra Chahal, all the Indian bowlers were among the wickets and kept South Africa's batsmen under check.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was at his imperious best as the format shifted to 20 overs and finished with career-best figures of 5/24 from his four overs at the Wanderers was once again the pick of the Indian bowlers taking 2 for 24 in his four overs.

Jasprit Bumrah, Suresh Raina, Shardul Thakur were a bit expensive but they claimed one wicket each.

Although Hardik Pandya claimed just one wicket, he played a crucial role in the middle overs to keep South African batsmen under check as he gave away just 22 runs in 4 overs at an economy of 5.5.

"Yes, I really enjoyed this tour. I was very happy with my preparation. First of all thanks to IPL, it has made an Indian bowler a thinking bowler. It is important not to give too many runs in the first six overs. I always try to keep it simple. I hardly get these kind of wickets in India and I enjoyed this," said Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Man of the Series.

India's @BhuviOfficial is the Player of the Series after 7 wickets in the series! Congratulations! #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/9j03WJpNpo

— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2018

#2 South Africa's bowlers being ineffective

India were put in to bat first after Proteas skipper JP Duminy won the toss and once again stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma perished cheaply, as he was trapped in front of the wickets by Junior Dala.

Then, a 65-run partnership between Suresh Raina (43) and Shikhar Dhawan (47) steadied the ship for the visitors.

However, India struggled a bit after the duo's dismissal as Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni could replicate their performance from the last match.

The hosts' bowlers could not take advantage of this situation as a late surge from Hardik Pandya (21 off 17) and Dinesh Karthik (13 off 6) saw them through to their eventual total of 172/7.

In the end, India's target proved to be a stiff chase for the hosts as South Africa lost the match by 7 runs.

#1 All-round performance by India

After losing the 2nd T20I at Centurion by six wickets on Wednesday, India produced a spirited performance to win the three-match series 2-1 on Saturday.

The Men in Blue outplayed the hosts in every department of the game despite losing their in-form regular skipper Virat Kohli due to a stiff back.

Although Rohit Sharma could not chip in with the bat, he was quite impressive in the field and used all his bowling options quite efficiently.

Eventually, India proved to be a better side in the competition and went on to win the match by 7 runs.

"To be honest, we were 15 runs short. Because the way the first half went, I thought we lost our way in the end. These things happen and we learn from it. I thought it was a decent score and the bowlers did the job for us. I hope games like these teach us a lot of things. We discussed certain plans and it worked today. The idea was to keep the ball on the stumps and we kept it tight in the first six overs. Credit to the new-ball bowlers. It was a complete bowling performance. We will take these limited-overs trophies, throughout the series we played with a lot of aggression. As a group, we never back down from any situation. That is the reason we are standing here as winners", Rohit Sharma said.