Picture Credit: Twitter
India finally broke the losing streak against South Africa in 2022, beating the Temba Bavuma-led team by 48 runs in the 3rd T20I on Tuesday. After posting 179/5 on the board, India bowled out South Africa for 131 runs. Bowlers played a special role in India’s victory but there were few notable contributors with the bat as well.
Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Hardik Pandya made some handy contributions to help India reach a respectable total in the first place. While Kishan and Gaikwad got India off to a flying start and scored half-centuries, Pandya provided the finishing touch with his 31*. This was the second time in three matches that Pandya’s late flourish allowed India to post a fighting total.
In the 1st T20I as well, Pandya scored 31*. However, it came at a much quicker rate and in different circumstances. The same amount of runs was more valuable in the 3rd T20I because India were in a spot of bother after losing wickets in a cluster in the middle overs. After a 97-run opening stand between Kishan and Gaikwad, India lost Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, and Rishabh Pant within 46 runs.
With India struggling in the end overs to score runs, Hardik Pandya stepped up and aggregated 23 runs in the last two overs with Axar Patel to propel India to 179/5. After seeing his heroics with the bat, former India spinner Amit Mishra heaped praise on the cricketer. Amit Mishra looked mighty impressed with Pandya’s ability to handle a pressure situation.
The former leggie called Pandya lucky and praised him for bailing the team out of trouble. “Hardik Pandya is so lucky today that he can fly a low on fuel plane, with a faulty engine, in a thunderstorm and yet can land it safely to the destination,” tweeted Amit Mishra on Tuesday.
Notably, with this win in 3rd T20I, India have kept themselves alive in the 5-match T20I series but are trailing 1-2. The next match is to be played on Friday in Rajkot.