South Africa vs India, 3rd T20I - India Player Ratings

Team India continued their dominating run of form in the limited overs cricket. After a thumping ODI series win over the South Africans, the Men in Blue registered yet another historic series win, this time in the T20Is. A clinical performance in the final T20I at the Newlands, Cape Town helped the Indian team seal the three-match series 2-1. Coming to the game, the stage was ideally set for the decider.

The anecdote seemed so ideal with the venue being the very same one where the tour had commenced. Talking about the game, South Africa won the toss and opted to field first. India were dented with their skipper Virat Kohli out of the game. Also, the pain worsened with stand in skipper Rohit Sharma perishing cheaply. Decent knocks of 40s from Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan kept India in the hunt.

Later, cameos from Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik saw the visitors finish with 172/7 in their stipulated 20 overs. In the run chase, South Africa lost their in-form batsman Reeza Hendricks early. JP Duminy and David Miller kept the equation under control but the India bowlers soon got a good hold on the game. Once Miller was dismissed, the wickets kept tumbling.

Duminy tried hard with his 55 but in the end, but it looked like it was a little too much for the hosts to accomplish. Christiaan Jonker’s 24-ball 49 got the hosts to a touching distance away from the win. But they eventually fell short by 7 runs owing to a masterclass final over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar who finished with figures of 2/24.

Here are the India Player Ratings for the final T20I:

Shikhar Dhawan – 7/10

Shikhar Dhawan continued his good form with the bat yet again. Dhawan scored 47 off 40 deliveries in the game and looked like a calm head at the crease. But as the numbers suggest, his stay at the crease was not the most easy-going one. Dhawan took quite some time to get his eyes in. He finished the series as the top scorer for the Indian team in the series.

Rohit Sharma – 1/10

Rohit Sharma’s dismal run with the bat continued on the tour. If one takes out the ton in the Port Elizabeth ODI, then Rohit literally has nothing much to brag about on the tour. Also, he should have batted a lot more responsibly considering the fact that he was the stand in skipper. He was dismissed on 11 in the game. For the third time in the series, it was Junior Dala who got his wicket.

Suresh Raina –  8.5/10

Suresh Raina had a big role to play in the game. With no Virat Kohli in the Indian middle order for the match, the onus was on Raina to stand up and take responsibility. Raina batted very fluently. He scored a brisk 43 off just 27 deliveries with five boundaries and a maximum. Also, later in the game, he bowled decently enough and accounted for the dismissal of David Miller.

Manish Pandey – 2/10

Manish Pandey was the star of the show for the visitors in the previous game. In this game, he had an even bigger role to play. He was promoted ahead of Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni. Pandey showed a lot of promise with a six first up. However, he perished soon after and could only score 13 on the day.

Dinesh Karthik – 6/10

Dinesh Karthik finally got a chance to bat in the series. It was unfortunate to see Karthik getting a chance to bat in the penultimate over of the tour. When the moment arrived, Karthik made full use of it though. He scored two fours off the first two balls that he faced. He chipped in with a crucial 13 off 6 balls to help India cross the 170-run mark in the match.

MS Dhoni – 5/10

After a brilliant fifty in the previous game, all eyes were on MS Dhoni to repeat the heroics. But the former Indian skipper failed to live up to the expectation. He could only muster 12 runs off 11 balls in the match. With the gloves, his work was blemish-free as ever. Also, he was heard chipping in with very useful tips for the bowlers throughout the innings.

Hardik Pandya – 7/10

Hardik Pandya saw himself promoted ahead of MS Dhoni in the match. The management’s intent of letting him spend some time at the crease looked very much evident. However, Pandya struggled during his 17-ball 21. However, he covered up very well for the poor show with a good bowling performance. In the four overs that he bowled, he gave away 22 runs and scalped the big fish – Heinrich Klaasen.

Axar Patel – 1/10

Axar Patel finally got a game on the tour. However, the outing was not a very fruitful one. The very first ball that Axar bowled saw Klaasen hit one straight to Shardul Thakur. But Thakur dropped a sitter and Axar had to return disappointed. This was followed up by two sixes by Duminy as he returned for 16 runs in the only over that he bowled.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 9/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar continued to show why he is the best Indian bowler in the modern day cricket. After his five wicket haul in the first game, Bhuvi was rested in the second. In the final game, he proved to be the best bowler for the side again. He returned with figures of 2/24 in his four overs. This was highly impressive considering the fact that he was defending 19 in the final over against a very attacking Christiaan Jonker.

Shardul Thakur – 5/10

Shardul Thakur had a much improved outing in the match with the ball. He bowled tight lines first up. In the second over that he bowled, he conceded just 3 runs. Later, he accounted for the big wicket of JP Duminy, who was threatening to take on the attack in the end stages. Shardul returned with figures of 1/35 in the four overs that he bowled in the match.

Jasprit Bumrah – 4/10

It is not a usual sight to see a bowler of the caliber of Jasprit Bumrah going away for a lot of runs in the limited overs game. But the Cape Town T20I was certainly not the best outing that Bumrah had. He was taken away for as many as 39 runs in the four overs that he bowled. He got the wicket of Chris Morris though. That certainly came as a consolation for the Indian limited overs specialist.

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