India strike back in Dharamsala as bowlers decimate South Africa to take 2-1 lead in the T20I series

India shook off the mid-series jitters as they bossed South Africa emphatically in Dharamsala, securing a 2-1 lead in the ongoing T20I series. A clinical show from the bowlers saw the visitors crumble like a house of cards while the Indian batters chased down what was a modest target with relative ease.

Winning the toss, India opted to bowl first. An early triple-strike from the bowlers left South Africa crumbling already. Arshdeep Singh opened the assault with the prized scalp of Reeza Hendricks (0) while Harshit Rana was next to join the party, removing South Africa’s hero from the last game, Quinton de Kock, for just 1.

Harshit Rana struck again to get the better of Dewald Brevis (2) as India reduced the Proteas to 7/3. Tristan Stubbs (9) did try and offer some resistance alongside captain Aiden Markram but their partnership was cut short as Hardik Pandya broke the stand of 23 runs, claiming the former's scalp.

The only South African who could put up a fight was Aiden Markram, scoring a crucial 61 off just 46 balls. He had some support from Donovan Ferreira (20) as they managed to get into the territory of a respectable total, totting up 117 at the end of 20 overs.

It was a collective show of brilliance from the Indian bowlers as Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav claimed two wickets each. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube chimed in with one wicket each, wrapping up the task without much of a fuss.

India roared off to a rambunctious overture as Abhishek Sharma spearheaded the show. His quickfire 35 off just 18 balls, a knock that featured three fours and three sixes, threw the demons of the pitch out of the window. However, once Corbin Bosch removed Sharma, India’s scoring rate slowed down.

South Africa did manage to get a couple of wickets in the form of Gill, who scored 28 as Marco Jansen snuck through his defences while Suryakumar Yadav (12) couldn’t really get going either.

However, Tilak Varma stood firm at one end for his 25* while Shivam Dube stepped out to the middle and killed the game with a four and a six as India secured the bragging rights with 25 balls and seven wickets to spare. Arshdeep Singh won the Player of the match award for his miserly bowling figures of 2/13.