India have secured the three-match T20 series against South Africa by winning the first two matches. Last night, they hosted the Proteas at Barsapara Stadium, where the home team sealed the victory in a thrilling game. KL Rahul received the Player of the Match award for his devastating batting display.
As it happened
Temba Bavuma, the T20 captain of South Africa, won the toss and opted to bowl first. Therefore, India had to start their batting innings in the 2nd game. Captain Rohit Sharma came into the crease with KL Rahul to begin the innings for the home team.
Both batters aimed to set a big target for the Proteas. As a result, they started hitting from the very first over. They passed the powerplay without losing any wickets. However, KL Rahul was a bit more aggressive than Rohit Sharma. The two batsmen made a fantastic partnership of 96 runs on the opening wicket.
It seemed both batters would get the century. But their partnership broke in the 10th over as Keshav Maharaj picked up Rohit Sharma. However, the Indian skipper scored 43 off 37 balls before leaving the crease. After a while, KL Rahul also followed the same path as Rohit did. Keshav Maharaj once again gave a breakthrough to the Proteas by taking KL Rahul in the 12th over. Rahul scored 57 runs with four sixes and five fours.
After that, Virat Kohli ruled the visitors with Suryakumar Yadav. Both were ruthless on the pitch. Especially, Suryakumar Yadav was batting like a storm. He scored the highest 61 runs only from 22 balls. On the other hand, Kohli remained not out 49 runs. Relying on these big scores, India set a target of 238 runs for South Africa.
Chasing the massive target, South Africa had a poor start. They lost two wickets, Temba Bavuma and Rilee Rossouw, in two overs. After that, Quinton de Kock tried to handle the disaster with Aiden Markram. Together they added 46 runs on the scoreboard.
Then Aiden Markram lost his wicket to Axar Patel. He scored 33 runs before losing the wicket. However, Quinton de Kock built up a brilliant partnership with David Miller. Miller was superb on the crease. He scored the highest 106 runs in this match. But, that wasn’t enough to win the game. Unfortunately, South Africa couldn’t score more than 221 runs in this match. Therefore, India won the game and sealed the series against the Proteas.