Muristek
VISAKHAPATNAM, June 14
India ticked all the boxes when it mattered the most and crushed South Africa by 48 runs in the must-win third T20 International to stay alive in the five-match series here today.
Yuzvendra Chahal (3/20) and Harshal Patel (4/25) led the way with the ball after sizzling half-centuries from Ruturaj Gaikwad (57) and Ishan Kishan (54) powered India to 179/5.
The bowlers came good after opener Gaikwad turned things around with a scintillating knock and Kishan scored his second fifty of the series.
Under the scanner for his patchy form, Gaikwad hit two maximums and seven fours in his 35-ball knock, and Kishan too scored his runs in 35 balls after being asked to take first strike.
Defending the total, skipper Rishabh Pant introduced the spinners early and Axar Patel produced the first breakthrough with a fuller delivery as Temba Bavuma (8) holed out to Avesh Khan in the fourth over.
Chahal was rewarded for bowling quick as he got extra bounce from the wicket to get the better of Rassie van der Dussen (1), Dwaine Pretorius (20) and Heinrich Klassen (29). Harshal mixed his deliveries well to first remove Reeza Hendricks (23) and David Miller (3) and then returned to finish things off with the wickets of Kagiso Rabada (9) and Tabraiz Shamsi (0) as South Africa were bundled out for 131. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/21) too bowled with a lot of heart.
Earlier, Gaikwad and Kishan hit two sixes each and shared 12 boundaries to set the platform but South Africa tightened the screws in the second half to keep India under 180.
It was Gaikwad, who turned aggressor after a watchful start and exploded in the fifth over, slamming five successive boundaries off Anrich Nortje.