India might well feel that the rain delays and curtailing of the chase played into South Africa’s hands and propelled them to a 1-0 series lead.
Now India can only share the series which concludes at the Wanderers on Thursday.
India have won three of their four T20Is at the Wanderers and with one of those wins coming against Pakistan, India have a 2-1 record over South Africa at this venue.
South Africa vs India | Third T20I | Thursday 14 December 2023 | The Wanderers | 17:00
South Africa
South Africa were given a shot at victory by Tabraiz Shamsi’s brilliant bowling but India chose to see him off rather than attack and he bagged only one scalp in the second T20I. Shamsi could be key again but at the Wanderers the quick bowlers could have a little more work to do.
Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee now leave the squad which means that other seamers are likely to get their chance to impress at the Wanderers.
Ottniel Baartman and Nandre Burger look set to get their opportunities in the final match of the series.
Andile Phehlukwayo has come some way towards changing minds about his T20 cricket with both the bat and the ball as he proves a handy finisher as well as a potential wicket-taker.
India
India surprisingly rested Ruturaj Gaikwad and paid the price with a top order failure costing them as much as the mid-innings slow down.
Surykumar Yadav and Rinku Singh performed their middle order duties with aplomb and might have done enough were it not for the shortening of the chase.
Wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Singh needs to show that he can contribute with the bat or he could find himself struggling to get into the team.
Mukesh Kumar made the most of the pressure built to take wickets but he also leaked a few runs and needs to find a better balance.
Verdict: India
India should fight back and level the series.
