India cricket team won the third and last T20 International match by seven runs against South Africa in Newlands Cape Town. With the win, they also won the three-match T20I series by 2-1.
The visitors’ tour to South Africa has been bittersweet. After losing the three-match Test series by 2-1, India team bounced back and achieved a rare series win by winning the six-match One Day International (ODI) series by 5-1 and T20I series by 2-1.
The talking point of the third match was the absence of ‘run machine’ Virat Kohli and in his absence, Rohit Sharma was given the duty to lead the Indian team.
Though Rohit Sharma failed in scoring big runs, he led the team in winning the match by seven runs.
The third T20I was a close competition between the Proteas and the Indians. Here are the winners and losers (batsman) from both the team in the second T20I:
Winners:
Suresh Raina
Star Indian batsman Suresh Raina made his comeback in the national team after a break of one year and what a way to make the world know that he still is the king of T20 cricket. In the series decider Raina scored 43 runs off 27 delivires with the strike rate of 159.26.
Shikhar Dhawan
The explosive Indian batter was not as explosive as he is known for but after the early dismissal of Rohit Sharma, Dhawan stabilised the India innings along with Suresh Raina. Dhawan scored 47 runs off 40 balls.
JP Duminy
Though South Africa lost the match by seven runs, JP Duminy did everything with the bat to be at the number three spot here. The stand-in South African skipper scored 55 run off just 41 deliveries with a strike rate of 134 at Newlands. In his innings, he hit three sixes and two boundaries.
Christiaan Jonker
If there was one player who caused some damage to Indian bowlers and for a moment took the charge of the match, it was Christiaan Jonker. Jonker scored 49 runs just in 24 delivers with the strike rate of 204.17. During his knock, Jonker hit five sixes and two boundaries.
Losers:
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma, who is also called ‘Hitman’ due to his ability to hit big shots, once again failed to impress as he was sent back to the pavilion by Jr Dala. Sharma scored 11 runs off 8 balls.
Reeza Hendricks
South Africa opener Reeza Hendricks failed his team to give the perfect opening and was sent back to the pavilion by star Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Reeza scored 7 runs off 13 balls.
Heinrich Klaasen
South Africa’s wicket-keeper batsman Heinrich Klaasen was the star in the second T20I that Proteas won by seven wickets. But he failed to make an impact on Indian bowlers in the series decider. Heinrich scored seven runs off 10 deliveries and was sent back by all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
Chris Morris
South African batsman Chris Morris, who is known for his aggressive middle-order batting, did not do much to contribute to his team’s total and was sent back to the pavilion at the score of four when his team needed him the most.