India ticked all the boxes when it mattered the most and crushed South Africa by 48 runs in the must-win third T20 International to stay alive in the five-match series on Tuesday.
Yuzvendra Chahal (3/20) and Harshal Patel (4/25) led the way with the ball after sizzling half-centuries from Ruturaj Gaikwad (57) and Ishan Kishan (54) powered India to 179/5.
It was Chahal's match winning spell which made the difference for India as he redeemed himself after forgettable outings in India's first two T20Is against South Africa.
Meanwhile, former India's star pacer Ashish Nehra heaped praise on Chahal as he said," We got to see the Chahal that we know, the aggressive Chahal. He varied his pace and length the way he usually does when he is at his best.”
Nehra said that while South Africa were helped by a brilliant innings from Klaasen in the second T20I, Chahal would have been left with regrets after the game. "Klaasen played very well in the previous match but I am sure, as is the case with any other bowler, Chahal must have thought that maybe he got a bit too defensive or he should have pitched up the ball a bit.
“Today the chance that Chahal created against Reeza Hendricks early in the game shows that he was getting some grip. He trapped the batters in the air and then he dismissed the number three, four and five batters. So by the time Chahal's three overs were done, South Africa were out of the match completely. Miracles do happen of course, we have seen Miller do it a couple of times. But to do that repeatedly is difficult,” said Nehra.
Chahal was rewarded for bowling quick as he got extra bounce from the wicket to get the better of Rassie van der Dussen (1), Dwaine Pretorius (20) and Heinrich Klassen (29).
Harshal mixed his deliveries well to first remove Reeza Hendricks (23) and David Miller (3) and then returned to finish things off with the wickets of Kagiso Rabada (9) and Tabraiz Shamsi (0) as South Africa were bundled out for 131.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/21) too bowled with a lot of heart. The fourth match of the series will be played on Friday in Rajkot.
