Lights are on at Narendra Modi Stadium and there is that little bit of tension. India vs South Africa 5th T20 highlights: India : 281/6 (20 Overs) | South Africa : The decider of the series that has kept fans on tenterhooks, the 5th T20 between India and South Africa has transformed into an absorbing game of chess. With the series 2-1 in favor of the hosts currently — there was a “fog-out” in Lucknow — this concluding match in Ahmedabad was always going to be about who would blink first.
As it is, South Africa are toiling at 125/3, a little way short of the scoreline that reflects what we’ve just seen in this rollercoaster hour. For a while, it seemed the Proteas would indeed pulverize a miracle, but two of India’s most experienced campaigners thought otherwise.
Pandya and Tilak at It: India Posts a Monster Total
For the first half of the evening, story of the match was simple: a series of unrelenting power hitting by an Indian middle order that was supposed to have never recovered from its 12-year swoon. With Shubman Gill withdrawn because of a last-minute foot injury, Sanju Samson was pushed to the top and provided a clean 37 off 22 that established the template. But it was the pairing of Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya that really shattered the South African bowling line-up.
Tilak Varma extended his “golden run” against the Proteas, holding forth with a classy 73 off 42. But the real pyrotechnics were reserved for Hardik Pandya’s bat. Notching up a half-century of just 16 balls, Pandya registered the second-fastest fifty in T20Is for India that included five humungous maximums —one of which hit a cameraman stationed just outside the boundary ropes. When the dust settled, India had piled up a massive 231/5, leaving South Africa with a daunting task in front of them.
The Breakthrough: Bumrah and Pandya Derail the Chase
South Africa did not steer away from the fight. Quinton de Kock swung like a possessed man, and had an especial liking for Arshdeep Singh – but also the otherwise implacable Varun Chakaravarthy. With the baby “Baby AB” Dewald Brevis, De Kock raced to a 30-ball fifty, and for an over or two Silences fell over pockets of the Indian gallery. The duo put on 42 runs within two middle-overs and took the score easily past 100.
But fortunes reversed in a jiffy when Suryakumar Yadav went to his trump card: Jasprit Bumrah.
The Maestro Strikes Bumrah, making his return to the side after a rest, demonstrated why he is rated best in the world business. From around the wicket, he got his ex-IPL mate De Kock with a slower-length ball which just left the batsman. The left-hander, on 65, could do no more than chip it straight back to the bowler. The “Caught and Bowled” was a clinical one and Surya expressed the sigh of relief on his face.
Hardik’s Revenge: Hardik Pandya wasn’t going to take that lying down and he got even in the next over. After having been smashed for a six by Dewald Brevis earlier, Pandya dug one in to the pitch with even more venom. Brevis went for a wild pull, he got a top edge as the ball fly high to deep mid-wicket. Washington Sundar remained undeferential under the high ball to call an end of Brevis’s cameo at 31.
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The Road to the Finish Line
This is what the contest boils down to when a game stands as 125/3. South Africa still have David Miller and Aiden Markram at the crease but they are now chasing more than 12 runs an over.
The Ahmedabad pitch is beginning to get slower and drier, something that might suit Varun Chakaravarthy and Washington Sundar in the backend of the innings. For South Africa to square the series they do not require just boundaries but a miracle. For India, it’s about trying to sustain the discipline that Bumrah and Pandya have been able to restore.
There’s a buzz around the crowd and as the “Killer Miller” steps up to take guard, the Indian bowlers are well aware that one more wicket could just be it for series.
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