South Africa vs India, 3rd T20I- 5 Talking Points

While it was all about Christiaan Jonker in the last few overs, Bhuvi had the last laugh.

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Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina
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Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. (Photo by Luke Walker/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

India’s tour of South Africa has been a witness to some riveting encounters. After a disappointing outing in the Test series, India stormed back and steamrolled the hosts in the ODI series. The Men in Blue thereafter clinched the first T20I at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

Nevertheless, the Proteas drew level in the series at Centurion riding on Heinrich Klaasen’s masterclass. The series was poised for a nail-biting finish at the Newlands in Cape Town and both teams strained every sinew to topple each other. Nonetheless, the visitors held their nerves and brushed aside JP Duminy’s men by seven runs and bagged the series.

Virat Kohli was ruled out of the decider, however, the Men in Blue stitched together some collective efforts under Rohit Sharma’s leadership and helped India come out trumps. In our article, we take you through the five intriguing moments from the humdinger.

#1 Junior Dala’s triple against Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma hasn’t been in the best of nicks in the ongoing tour of the Rainbow nation. The Mumbaikar has blown hot and cold in the T20 series as well. He threatened to take games away from the hosts, however, couldn’t convert the starts into substantial scores. He has mostly struggled against the pace of Junior Dala who dismissed him as many as three times in the series.

After the South African pacer got rid of him at Johannesburg and Centurion, the Indian opener again fell prey to Dala’s immaculate line and length. The makeshift Indian skipper started with a couple of scorching strokes. However, the Proteas pacer pinned Rohit Sharma in front of the stumps and gave his team the much-needed breakthrough.

#2 Suresh Raina’s blitz

Suresh Raina looked ominous in the erstwhile games at Johannesburg and Centurion, however, was unable to convert the starts. Nevertheless, the left-hander showed fluency and blazed away to a blistering knock of 43 runs off 27 balls which included five boundaries and one humongous six. The Uttar Pradesh batsman deposited Junior Dala into the stands and signalled his intentions from the outset.

Thereafter, he blazed away to some marvellous strokes through the off-side and looked ominous for the Proteas. He also carved a useful partnership of 65 runs along with Shikhar Dhawan and laid the platform for a handsome score on the board. The swashbuckling batsman eventually fell prey to Tabraiz Shamsi’s wrist-spin when he unsuccessfully tried to clear the long-on boundary.

#3 Dala’s direct-hit to pin Dhawan

Junior Dala has been stupendous for South Africa with the leather in hand. However, apart from his prowess with the ball, the Zambia born cricketer also telecasted his potential as an acrobatic fielder. Shikhar Dhawan, after a slow start, gradually gained momentum and spanked a few to the boundaries. However, Dala’s outstanding efforts in the outfield nipped his wicket out.

The incident panned out in the first ball of the fifteenth over when Dhawan was batting on 46 runs off 39 balls. Dhawan flicked a delivery off Tabraiz Shamsi on the leg side and scampered for a couple of runs. However, Junior Dala stormed in and threw the stumps down from the deep and Dhawan was caught way short of his crease.

#4 Indian pacers mounting pressure

South Africa’s asking-rate wasn’t daunting by any stretch of the imagination bearing in mind the firepower they possessed in their batting line-up. However, the Indian pacers tied down their batsmen owing to which the required-rate leapfrogged alarmingly. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur churned out immaculate channels and restricted the Proteas from going hammer and tongs.

Bhuvneshwar also snared Reeza Hendricks’ wicket with a knuckle-ball and drew first blood for India. Raina dismissed David Miller to complement the excellent work by the pacers. After 10 overs, South Africa finished with 52 runs for the loss of a couple of wickets. Meanwhile, the required run-rate jumped from 8.65 to 12.10, much to the discomfort of the hosts.

#5 The Christian Jonker show

After JP Duminy and Heinrich Klaasen’s dismissal, the match was well and truly tilted in favour of India. After Chris Morris’ dismissal, the Proteas required 58 runs off 21 balls and needed a herculean effort to get them out of jail. Christian Jonker made his international debut and showed nerves of steel during his maiden outing for South Africa.

He played an awe-inspiring knock of 49 runs off 24 balls, which included five boundaries and a couple of colossal blows into the stands. The Rustenburg-born cricketer spanked the Indian bowlers to all corners of Newlands. He treated the pacers with disdain and brought the hosts back into contention from a state of hopelessness. However, despite Jonker’s blistering knock, South Africa fell short of the target.

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