Pacers shine bright in India's seven-wicket win over SA in 3rd T20I

Abhishek Sharma played a sparkling little innings after the pacers produced a riveting exhibition of swing bowling, powering India to a smooth seven-wicket victory in the third T20I in Dharamsala on Sunday.

Chasing a modest 118 for a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, vice-captain Gill (28, 28 balls) and his opening partner Abhishek (35, 18 balls) added 60 runs in 5.2 overs as India achieved their target without much effort in 15.5 overs.

The lone point of interest in India’s chase was whether the South African pacers could emulate their Indian counterparts with the new ball, and make the opponents’ task tougher. However, Abhishek and Gill never allowed the South African bowlers to settle, as the former carted Lungi Ngidi for 16 runs in the first over. In fact, the very first ball of the chase went for a six -- an early indicator of the Indian openers’ intention.

In the second over, Gill too joined his partner to garner 16 runs as India sped to 32 for no loss in the initial two overs. Abhishek, as is his wont, batted in a single gear and it required a gem of a catch by Aiden Markram in the deep off Corbin Bosch to snap his stay.

Once the left-hander was dismissed, India's chase of the remaining 58 runs settled into a much more sedate rhythm as Gill, who was saved by a DRS call early in his innings, and Tilak Varma (26 not out) did not look for any adventure. Gill's run-a-ball 28 will certainly not rank among his fluent ones, but it might have boosted his confidence after two lukewarm outings in the first two matches of the series.

He eventually dragged a Marco Jansen delivery back on to his stumps, and skipper Suryakumar Yadav too failed to remain till the end. But those were the minor aberrations on the night.

All the credit for this canter should go to India’s pacers, who produced a mesmerizing spell of swing bowling to bundle out South Africa for a below-par 117. Leading India’s show with early wickets were Arshdeep Singh (2/13), Harshit Rana (2/34) and Hardik Pandya (1/23) after the hosts chose to bowl.

Skipper Markram offered a tiny spark for South Africa with a spirited 46-ball 61. Undoubtedly, the brightest stars under a cool sky were India’s quick bowlers, who procured lethal swing and lateral movement with the new ball. It had its effect on the low-key power play effort of South Africa -- 25 for three -- and the phase contained just two fours.

Arshdeep, who had a horror outing at Mullanpur a couple of days back, redeemed himself with a dream first spell (3-0-9-1). He bowled three deliveries which angled away from Reeza Hendricks and then jagged one back to trap the South African opener leg before with the help of DRS.

Rana did precisely the same to Quinton de Kock, a nip-backer, trapping the frozen-legged left-hander inside the crease. Dewald Brevis was slightly unfortunate to get castled while attempting a release shot off a wide delivery from Rana.

South Africa suddenly found themselves at 7 for 3 in 3.1 overs, and it was always going to be an uphill climb for them from there. Markram crunched a couple of sweet drives in between to keep the board moving but Tristan Stubbs and Bosch departed in quick succession to further derail South African innings.

Stubbs’ wicket helped all-rounder Pandya to complete 100 wickets in T20Is, the third Indian bowler to do so after Arshdeep and Jasprit Bumrah, who did not play this match after returning home to attend to a personal situation. The BCCI said his availability for the remainder of the series will be announced in due course.

Kuldeep Yadav too came into the eleven for an unwell Axar Patel. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/11 in 4 overs) too reached a milestone, capturing his 50th T20I wicket while flattening the stumps of Donovan Ferreira (20, 15 balls).

The big-hitting Ferreria was dropped on 13 by Arshdeep at long-on off Shivam Dube, but that did not hurt India. Chakravarthy cut open the lower-order with his bottomless bag of tricks as the pitch also continued to offer good pace and carry. The spinner also added the wicket of Jansen to keep South Africa pinned to the mat.

Markram completed his fifty off 41 balls with a slashed six off Rana, as the 18th over produced 19 runs. But the South African surge came tad too late.