Virat Kohli receives Test Championship Mace

They ended the tour on a high by clinching the T20I series 2-1. India has made South Africa taste defeat in both the limited over series and have avenged the loss in test series savagely.

Put into bat for the third consecutive time in this T20Is series, Rohit (11) was off the blocks quickly taking 13 runs off Chris Morris (2-43) first over. After Sharma had to go, Dhawan and Suresh Raina (43) steadied the innings with their 65-run-partnership before Raina was caught by Behardien off Shamsi’s bowling in the 10th over. South African skipper JP Duminy and wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi then took on the challenge to bring down the scoring rate and did the job wonderfully, choking the Indian batsmen for runs.

However, a final-over target of 18 proved too much for the pair, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-24) dismissing Jonker with the last delivery of the game to see South Africa’s valiant victory bid finish on 165-6. (Photo: BCCI/IANS) (Credit Mandatory) Cape Town: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and South African skipper JP Duminy during the 3rd T20I between South Africa and India at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb 24, 2018.

Bhuvneshwar took two wickets for India and became the man of the match, while Bumrah, Shardul, Pandya and Raina got one success. He conceded 64 runs in his four overs and surprisingly, skipper Virat Kohli did not try to throw the ball at Suresh Raina, who always had been a handy spin bowling option for previous captain MS Dhoni.

Overall, every member of the Indian side displayed a resilience South Africa may not have been expecting, and some have suggested the only thing that stood between India and all three trophies was team selection.

“Of course, we want to win the Test series (here in South Africa next time) but it won’t be easy”. I think T20 is all about six overs. We have a lot of matches coming up.

When the Indian cricket team landed in South Africa last month, a tough contest in all formats was expected between the two teams. Then, debutant Christiaan Jonker and old-hand Farhaan Behardien plundered 51 runs in the last three-and-a-half overs but could not get the hosts over the line.

The stage is set for an epic battle as India and South Africa had won the first and second matches respectively quite dominatingly. Watching the duo felt as if they were preparing for upcoming Test series with Australia!

“The team still requires a lot of hard work in a lot of areas when it comes to the T20 format”. I am very happy that this series has given me that confidence that I can be a T20 player.

“They bowled pretty well in the Powerplay, and we just couldn’t get the boundaries”.

“Yes, I really enjoyed this tour”.

While the captain, who dominated in the ODIs, has been short of runs in the shortest format, the middle order led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played positive cricket, while Shikhar Dhawan has been providing good starts.

Raina said it’s imperative to make the first six overs count whether batting or bowling.