No Virat Kohli, no problem as India beat South Africa to clinch T20 series

Sport360 staff 00:55 25/02/2018
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  • Virat Kohli missed the third and final T20 against South Africa but India still maintained their intensity to prevail by seven runs and win the series 2-1 and cap a successful tour of South Africa.

    Batting first on a tricky Cape Town wicket, India took their time to get going before useful contributions from Shikhar Dhawan (47) and Suresh Raina (43) helped India post 172-7.

    In reply, India seamers tied the South African batsmen down and despite a fighting 55 from captain JP Duminy and a whirlwind 49 from 24 balls from Christiaan Jonker, the hosts could only reach 165-6.

    India thus finished the tour on a high with a 5-1 ODI series win under their belt which came after a 2-1 defeat in a hard-fought Test series.

    Here is a quick wrap up of India’s series clinching win in Cape Town

    INDIA MAKE CHANGES

    Captain Kohli missed the deciding match due to a stiff back. In his place, Rohit Sharma led the team. India made other changes to the side, with Jasprit Bumrah coming in for Jaydev Unadkat, Dinesh Karthik coming in for Kohli and left-arm spinner Axar Patel replacing leggie Yuzvendra Chahal.

    SLOW START BY DHAWAN

    After Rohit Sharma was trapped lbw by pacer Junior Dala, fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan struggled to raise the tempo. He scored his first boundary in the 13th over of India’s innings but once he got his timing going, he hit two more boundaries before getting out for 47 off 40 balls.

    RAINA PLAYS A GEM OF AN INNINGS

    All-rounder Suresh Raina smashed the first ball he faced from Dala over fine leg for a six. He made use of the crease and made up for the struggling Dhawan by hitting 43 off 27 balls. His sparkling knock ultimately proved to be the winning factor.

    PANDYA DRIES UP THE RUNS

    While Hardik Pandya the batsman has not been as consistent as hoped, Pandya the bowler has gone from strength to strength. His spell of 1-22 from four overs was absolute gold as it pushed the Proteas almost out of the game. Using slower ones and cutters extensively, Pandya troubled every South African batsman and when he was done, the hosts needed 94 from 42 balls.

    JONKER NEARLY PULLS IT OFF

    Before the match started, not many would have heard of Christiaan Jonker. But by the end of the match, 31-year-old made sure every Indian player and franchise owner across the world would remember his name as he hit 49 from 24 balls, with five fours and two sixes, under extreme pressure to take his team to within one hit of an improbable win. It was only another superb final over – with 19 needed- by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-24 from four overs) that denied Jonker glory.

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