Paragraph on match b/w south Africa and india
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NEW DELHI: Bhuvneshwar Kumar kept his calm and defended 19 runs in the final over as India defeated South Africa by seven runs in the third and final Twenty20 International at the Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday. With the thrilling victory, India won the three-match series 2-1.
India was in control of the match before debutant Christiaan Jonker decided to give the visitors a late scare. Jonker smashed 49 off 24 balls before falling to Bhuvneshwar in the final ball of the match. Jonker, who hit two sixes and five fours, took South Africa closer to the challenging target, but failed to take them home as they managed 165/6 in chase of 173.
Scorecard | As it happened
Bhuvneshwar (2/24) took two South African wickets, while Hardik Pandya (1/22), Jasprit Bumrah (1/39), Shardul Thakur (1/35) and Suresh Raina (1/27) chipped in with a wicket apiece.
South Africa found it tough to negotiate India bowler from the start as they lost opener Reeza Hendricks (7) to Bhuvneshwar in the third over. The second wicket came after 6.2 overs but the hosts could add just 35 more to the score.
The Proteas were reduced to 45/2 when Raina dismissed David Miller in the tenth over. Miller hit a six and two fours for his watchful 24 off 23 balls. It was skipper JP Duminy who changed the scoring rate with two successive sixes off Axar Patel in the 12th over, soon after Thakur dropped Heinrich Klaasen in the previous ball.
But it did not cost India much as Pandya got rid of Klaasen (7) in the 13th. Jonker then kept the hosts in the hunt, hitting Raina for consecutive fours in the next over. On the other end, Duminy continued his aggressive play and raced to fifty off 38 balls - his 11th in T20Is, which included three sixes and two fours.
Soon after fifty, Duminy (55 off 41) gave away an easy catch to Rohit Sharma, at the mid-off, off Thakur. South Africa lost Chris Morris too three balls later to Bumrah.
But Jonker kept the hopes alive by hitting Thakur for a six and three fours in the 18th over. With the hosts needing 35 from the last two overs, it was anyone's game. Jonker smacked another six off Bumrah in the next over and along with Farhaan Behardien scored 16 in it.
Needing 19 in the final over, Bhuvneshwar conceded six off first three balls before bowling a wide. South Africa now needed 12 off three balls and everyone was tensed in the middle as well as in the stands. A two in the fourth left South Africa needing 10 off two balls, but Bhuvneshwar gave away a two and dismissed Jonker with the last delivery.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan (47) and Raina (43) added 65-run stand for the second wicket, after sent in to bat, to help India post a challenging 172/7. Junior Dala (3/35) took three Indian wickets and also sent Dhawan back with a direct hit, while Morris (2/43) scalped two wickets in the final over.
Rohit led the visitors after skipper Virat Kohli was rested due to a stiff back. India lost the stand-in captain early. Rohit was trapped leg before by Dala in the second over. Raina then came out all guns blazing, smashing six off Dala in the very first delivery he faced. Even though Dhawan struggled to get going, Raina made sure that the runs kept pouring in for India as they completed the Powerplay overs at 57/1.
The duo brought up fifty-run stand off just 38 balls. But Raina's whirlwind innings came to an end while trying to loft spinner Tabraiz Shamsi in the tenth over. Raina smashed a six and five fours in his 27-ball 43 knock.
In-form Manish Pandey (13), who scored 29* and 79* in the first two matches, started aggressively, hitting Shamsi for a six. But he did not last long, becoming Dala's second victim in the 14th over. During the 32-run stand for the third wicket, Dhawan, who had not scored a boundary in 28 balls, smacked three fours in six balls to change the tempo.
Dhawan was going strong for his second fifty of the series, when a direct hit from Dala sent the India opener back to pavilion in the 16th over. Dala dismissed MS Dhoni (12) in the penultimate over, before Dinesh Karthik hit him for two consecutive fours. Morris then dismissed Hardik Pandya (21 off 17) and Karthik (13) in the last over