India’s tour of South Africa ended with satisfactory results. The cricketers faced mixed experiences in the itinerary. The criticism was at its height when they lost consecutive matches in the Test series. Virat Kohli’s condemnation of the team even annoyed Ravi Shastri.
However, he also questioned those experienced critics who had left no stone unturned in sharply condemning the Indian team’s performance. He raised these questions after the team’s triumph in the other matches.
The second T-20 match was exciting with pounding performances by Klassen and Duminy, while the third match will not be forgotten by the South African debutant, Christian Jonker, and the old-hand, Farhaan Behardien. Although they attempted to chase the set target, their efforts could not help their team cross the libe.
India, who scored 172 runs for the loss of seven wickets, won by seven runs in the absence of Virat Kohli.
Batting first, both Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina played some good shots. Dhawan had the highest score in the Indian innings (47 runs). However, he got out in a mad effort to complete his second run off a hook off Tabraiz Shamsi’s ball. Dala directly hit the stumps from deep midwicket.
In response, the hosts started slowly with 25 runs for one wicket during the Power Play and 52 runs for two wickets in 10 overs. They failed to conquer the rising Indian pressure mainly due to their poor batting depth and their inability to finish the game off. Their captain Duminy top-scored with 55 runs, while the new player Jonker scored 49 runs in just 24 balls.
Ultimately, Dumini’s unreasonable decision to field first caused their downfall as their team crashed to a disappointing defeat.