DHARAMSALA, Dec 14:
Abhishek Sharma played a sparkling little innings after the pacers produced a riveting exhibition of swing bowling, powering India to a smooth seven-wicket victory in the third T20I here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 118 for a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, vice-captain Gill (28, 28 balls) and his opening partner Abhishek (35, 18 balls) added 60 runs in 5.2 overs as India achieved their target without much effort in 15.5 overs.
The lone point of interest in India’s chase was whether the South African pacers could emulate their Indian counterparts with the new ball, and make the opponents’ task tougher.
However, Abhishek and Gill never allowed the South African bowlers to settle, as the former carted Lungi Ngidi for 16 runs in the first over.
In fact, the very first ball of the chase went for a six — an early indicator of the Indian openers’ intention.
In the second over, Gill too joined his partner to garner 16 runs as India sped to 32 for no loss in the initial two overs.
Abhishek, as is his wont, batted in a single gear and it required a gem of a catch by Aiden Markram in the deep off Corbin Bosch to snap his stay.
Once the left-hander was dismissed, India’s chase of the remaining 58 runs settled into a much more sedate rhythm as Gill, who was saved by a DRS call early in his innings, and Tilak Varma (26 not out) did not look for any adventure.
Gill’s run-a-ball 28 will certainly not rank among his fluent ones, but it might have boosted his confidence after two lukewarm outings in the first two matches of the series.
He eventually dragged a Marco Jansen delivery back on to his stumps, and skipper Suryakumar Yadav too failed to remain till the end. But those were the minor aberrations on the night.
Brief Scores:
South Africa: 117 all out in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 61; Arshdeep Singh 2/13, Harshit Rana 2/34, Hardik Pandya 1/23, Varun Chakravarthy 2/11, Shivam Dube 1/21).
India: 120 for 3 in 15.5 overs (Abhishek Sharma 35, Shubman Gill 28, Tilak Varma 26 not out; Corbin Bosch 1/18). (PTI)
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