South Africa v India 2018: 3rd T20I, Cape Town : Five Game-Changing Moments

After a cracking couple of matches in the T20I series, the focus shifted to Newlands, Cape Town, which saw the grand finale of Indian tour of South Africa. India sealed the final match of the series in a nerve-wracking thriller, by a margin of 2-1.

Batting first, India posted a daunting total of 172, powered by knocks from Dhawan, Suresh Raina, Pandya and Dinesh Karthik in the backend.

South Africa v India 2018: 3rd T20I, Cape Town : Five Game-Changing Moments

South Africa, after a sluggish start, came heartbreakingly close to the required total due to some brilliant hitting from Christiaan Jonker and JP Duminy.

In the end, it was the visitors who walked away with the ODI as well as the T20I series with a scoreline of 5-1 and 2-1 respectively. Let us go through the five game-changing moments of the match.

1. Suresh Raina’s knock

Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina has been promoted to bat at the number three position. (Photo credit should read CHRISTIAAN KOTZE/AFP/Getty Images)

Rohit Sharma’s stay at the crease remained short with yet another early dismissal off Dala. Suresh Raina, much like he has in the series, took no time to get set at the crease and led the counter-attack.

Raina smacked the first ball he faced out of his sight for a maximum. The IPL stalwart scored 43 in no time which comprised of five boundaries. Comeback man, Raina, also shielded Dhawan’s struggle at the other end who managed his first boundary after ten overs of the inning.

Read More  "Yashasvi Jaiswal no superstar, has to prove himself in SENA countries.."- Ravichandran Ashwin's rant

2. Junior Dala’s contribution

Junior Dala, South Africa vs India, T20, Johannesburg, Centurion
Junior Dala made his debut in the first T20 against India. (Photo credit should read CHRISTIAAN KOTZE/AFP/Getty Images)

After Kagiso Rabada, Junior Dala took over the responsibility to make Rohit Sharma his bunny. Rookie Dala dismissed the Indian opener in all three T20Is of the series.

He then took the prized scalp of Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni, just when they were looking to accelerate to repeat their heroics from Centurion. Junior Dala picked up three wickets and conceded only

Shikhar Dhawan, after his sluggish beginning, looked to regain his touch as he was going great guns on 47. To get some extra runs, Dhawan underestimated Dala’s arm and a direct hit from the fiesty bowler posted in deep, saw the back of Dhawan.

3. Dismal fielding from South Africa

Tabraiz Shamsi, Virat Kohli, Johannesburg, T20I, South Africa vs India 2018,
Shamsi celebrates Kohli’s wicket (Credits: AP)

Tabraiz Shamsi was guilty of missing a sitter in the ODI series, where he dropped Rohit Sharma who went on to score a century. Shamsi went on to miss a couple of sitters in the match which gave much-needed life to Dhawan.

Shamsi appeared sloppy in the field, giving away extra runs thanks to his buttery fingers. Phangiso also dropped Dhawan off his bowling while Phehlukwayo gave away three easy runs in the final over off a ball which went through his hand.

In the end, the South Africans had only themselves to them due to their sloppy fielding which cost them at least 30 runs extra.

Read More  "Yashasvi Jaiswal no superstar, has to prove himself in SENA countries.."- Ravichandran Ashwin's rant

4. Indian new ball efforts

Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar celebrates his 28th birthday on February 5th. Image Courtesy: Getty Images

The turning point in the game arrived when the pitch became difficult to score off when the South African came out to bat. Batting second under lights at Cape Town has always been a difficult proposition.

India conceded only 52 in the first ten overs of the Protean innings, which put them under immense pressure. Further, Duminy, Miller, and Hendricks faced up way too many balls without scoring many and losing their wickets.

5. JP Duminy’s dismissal

South Africa v India 2018: 3rd T20I, Cape Town : Five Game-Changing Moments

In hindsight, only one man named JP Duminy stood in between India and series victory. Duminy looked to take his team deep into the match with yet another sparkling T20I half-century.

South African hopes resided on their captain until he was there at the crease. However, Christiaan Jonker on his debut gave a major panic attack amongst the Indians which almost took his team through.

One can only imagine the damage Jonker would have created had he been sent ahead of Morris.