Bowlers dominate as India take 2-1 lead over South Africa after winning 3rd T20I

 

In T20 cricket, it often feels as if bowlers could be replaced by bowling machines. After all, it is the batters who draw crowds with a flood of fours and sixes. Yet, as the cricketing gods would have it, there are days when the script changes completely. Sunday was one such rare day. Instead of the batters, it was the Indian bowlers who stole the show at the Dharamsala ground. In the third T20I, the South African batters were left clueless against India’s bowling attack, being bowled out for just 117 runs. Suryakumar Yadav’s India chased down the target comfortably. Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy were outstanding with the ball, while Abhishek Sharma (32), Shubman Gill (28) and Tilak Varma (25*) guided the team to victory with the bat. With this win, the Men in Blue took the lead in the series.

After winning the toss on Sunday, the Indian captain opted to field first. India made two changes for the third T20I, bringing in Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav in place of Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel. Anticipating dew later in the evening, Suryakumar’s decision to bowl first proved spot on, something that became evident right from the start of the match.

Arshdeep Singh struck in the very first over, dismissing Hendricks for a duck. In the next over, Harshit Rana sent Quinton de Kock back to the pavilion for just one run. Harshit soon added another wicket to his tally, as Brevis was bowled for just two runs. One after another, South African batters kept falling — Stubbs (9), Bosch (9), Donovan (20) and Jansen (2). Varun Chakravarthy, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube also chipped in with wickets as the ball kept seaming around . Only the South African captain offered some resistance towards the end, scoring a fighting 61 before getting out to Arshdeep. Amongst the ruins Markram played some glorious strokes . Ferreira smashed a big 6 in his quickfire 20. Kuldeep Yadav picked up two wickets in the final over, as South Africa were bundled out for 117. Arshdeep, Harshit, Varun and Kuldeep took two wickets each, while Pandya and Shivam Dube claimed one apiece.

The task for the Indian batters was never too demanding. Abhishek Sharma played a confident knock of 35 off 18 balls, anchoring the chase well against the South African bowling attack with spectacular shots . At one stage, it seemed India would reach the target comfortably through the 60-run opening partnership between Abhishek and Gill. However, Gill was bowled by Marco Jansen for a scratchy 28. Once again, he failed to convert a start into a match-winning innings. In his last six T20Is, Gill’s scores read 0, 4, 29*, 46, 15 and 5. Since his return to the side, he has scored only 263 runs in 14 innings, averaging 23.90 with a strike rate of 142.93, without a single half-century. His 28 on Saturday only added to the growing scrutiny — raising questions about his place in the side.

Suryakumar Yadav found himself in a similar situation. Despite India being close to victory in a low-scoring chase, the captain played a loose shot and was dismissed off Lungi Ngidi, offering a simple catch at 12 . This forced Shivam Dube to walk in and finish the match, while Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on 25. Although India secured the win and the series lead, several questions linger despite the convincing result.