India Seal T20 Series With Dominant Win In Ahmedabad

India presented a strong performance in the final match of the T20 series to win the series against South Africa. The match was held on Friday in Ahmedabad, and India emerged as the winner by 30 runs. The result helped India win the T20 series after the successful tour.

India Post Huge Total After Explosive Batting

After winning the toss, India decided to bat first. They continued with their aggressive mindset throughout their innings. All the Indian players contributed, though captain Suryakumar Yadav managed only 5 runs.
Sanju Samson, playing his first match of the series due to Shubman Gill’s injury, made his presence felt right from the beginning. He scored 37 runs off 22 deliveries. Abhishek Sharma also supported him well, scoring 34 off 21 deliveries. Their aggressive partnership resulted in the total exceeding 60 in the first six overs, thereby putting constant pressure on the bowlers of the opposing team.
Tilak Varma was continuing his good work with the bat at three. He scored 73 runs with the help of 42 balls, including boundaries. Even with the fall of Samson and Suryakumar, the Indian team was still in control.
Hardik Pandya then changed the momentum completely in favor of India. He started the innings with a six and then played some potent shots. In the 14th over, which was bowled by George Linde, Tilak struck a six, whereas Hardik struck four sixes and fours. The over gave away a total of 27 runs, which finished off the South African resistance.
India reached 200 runs with 19 balls left. The pace of their scoring was a little affected in the last few overs but still resulted in a prolific score of 231/5.

South Africa's Run Dwindles after Promising Start

South Africa started their proceedings positively in this chase, though Reeza Hendricks yet again continued his poor performance. Quinton de Kock led from the front through his aggressive knock. He scored 65 off 35 deliveries and smacked several boundaries off Arshdeep Singh.
Tristan Stubbs Brevis contributed with a brisk 31 off 17 deliveries. When the halfway stage was reached, South Africa had scored 118 for the loss of one wicket in 10 overs, and the chasing seemed well within reach.
The moment of truth came in the 11th over. Jasprit Bumrah got the wicket of de Kock with a return catch. In the next over, another wicket of Brevis fell. This helped turn the situation completely in favor of India.
Varun Chakravarthy then tore through the middle order. He removed Aiden Markram and Donovan Ferreira in successive balls and ended with four wickets. Although there was some last-minute scoring from the trio of Linde, Jansen, and Bosch, South Africa could manage only 201 for 8 wickets.
In such high-scoring footage, the discipline of the India bowling lineup had an edge in crucial situations. The spell of 2 wickets for 17 runs in four overs by Bumrah had particular influence. The runs were conceded by Chakarvarthy but made up for four important wickets.

Series Summary

India won the T20 series with three matches won. The second T20 was won by South Africa, while the fourth one was abandoned because of the fog. It was recalled that India swept the series 2-0 in the test matches before winning the One-Day International 2-1.
Hardik Pandya was rewarded the Player of the Match award for his all-round display.
The Player of the Series award went to Varun Chakravarthy.

On-Field Incidents During the Match

The match also witnessed two injury scares. In the ninth over, a straight drive played by Sanju Samson deflected from Donovan Ferreira and hit umpire Rohan Pandit on the knee. The umpire received some treatment and started umpiring again. Later, a six struck by Hardik Pandya hit a cameraman outside the boundary, and ice packs had to be given to him.