IND VS RSA - 3rd T20I, South Africa tour of India, 2022

India - 2 | South Africa - 1. So India take the series as Rohit Sharma collects the trophy and the Indian team poses for the cameras. After conceding nearly 230 runs, the pressure was always going to be on the chasing side tonight. Losing early wickets didn't help the hosts either, and although there were plenty of boundaries scored in India's innings, they were never in the run chase. India have their batting sorted before the T20 World Cup, but their bowling needs a lot of tuning. In the absence of Bumrah, they look pretty inexperienced and unconvincing. On the other hand, South Africa have de Kock, Rossouw and Miller in form, but Bavuma's form is a big concern for them. Will he be able to get back to form before the showpiece event? We shall find out soon. For now, this is Nikhil signing off on behalf of Raju, Saurabh and Praveen Chintalapudi! Do join us for the coverage of the first game of the 3-match ODI series that starts on Thursday. Ciao!

Rohit Sharma | India captain: As a team we said at the beginning, no matter what happens with the result - there's always room for improvement. We want to keep getting better as a team. Teams have been quite challenging, they can challenge in all departments. Something we have been talking about at length. We need to look at lot of things. Surya's form is a concern (laughs). We need to work on our bowling. We played against two quality sides, we came across tough challenges. We need to see what better we can do. We are working towards that, guys need a lot of clarity, it's my job to make sure it happens. It's a work in progress, we need to keep working and keep finding answers to it. Lot of the guys haven't been to Australia, that's why we are going there early. We want to play on the bouncy pitches of Perth, we want to see what we can do there. Only 7,8 members of the squad have been to Australia, so we have organised a few practise games. We need to understand what combination we can play. Bumrah is out of the World Cup, so we need to find a bowler who has the experience of bowling in Australia. Not sure who that bowler is going to be, we will see once we travel to Australia, we'll find it out there.

Suryakumar Yadav | Player of the Series: Not really, I didn't check the stats. But I think that was the demand of the game. My friends send these things (stats and numbers) on whatsapp, I don't follow it. The thought process was the same, I just wanted to enjoy. I had to take a step back and build a partnership with him. Didn't work today. DK needed some game time, and I think the way he batted, my number 4 is in trouble. I haven't thought much about it, but I am looking forward to it.

Rilee Rossouw | Player of the Match: It's something that every cricketer goes through, lucky for me, tonight was my night. We had a discussion out there, and he (de Kock) said you be the guy scoring. They are a world class side. I am glad that I could contribute for the winning side tonight. The chat is that we back each other, and we believe in our abilities. I am glad with myself and de Kock for scoring runs tonight.

Temba Bavuma | SA captain: A win like this is always good for confidence. We struggled with the bat in the first game, our bowling wasn't best in the last game, but we were clinical today. A lot to take from this game. We didn't turn up with the bat in the first game. In the second game, we couldn't execute our plans. We were a lot clear in the field today, it was a lot more clinical performance today. We need the points to qualify for the World Cup (next year). Some new guys will be coming in (for the ODI series) with some fresh energy. Every game from now on is important for us.

Rahul Dravid | India Coach: I think it’s good to get the right results in both these home series wins. In this format of the game, you need to have the rub of the green go our way, which didn’t happen in the Asia Cup. (On India’s aggressive batting) We’ve made a decision after the last T20 World Cup where we sat down as a group and decided to play more positively. We believe we have the quality as a group to play more aggressively, we’ve been able to do that without being bowled out too often. (On Bumrah being ruled out) It happens, but it is a great opportunity for someone to stand up. We will miss him, we will miss his personality around the group for sure. (On DK’s promotion today) I think today was an opportunity to give these guys some batting. It is tough on guys like Dinesh and Rishabh who don’t get too many hits in the middle. I felt they were batting really well at one moment, had they played longer we might have got closer. I feel batting at 6, it’s always tough when you have to bat just 5-10 balls, so it’s always nice to get a few balls under their belt like they did today. I feel the way Harshal and the rest of the lower order batted was also really good. (Message ahead of the World Cup) We are going to do our best, we’ve really worked hard and we can just hope for the best. In tournaments like those, you need to play really well but we need a bit of luck as well. We hope to bring smiles to people’s faces. I think since crowds have been allowed into stadiums, we’ve got great support everywhere we’ve gone and the boys are really encouraged by that support. We’ll have that in Australia as well, we’ll try our best.

India in bilaterals under Rohit Sharma as full time captain
Beat NZ 3-0 in T20Is (H)
Beat WI 3-0 in ODIs (H)
Beat WI 3-0 in T20Is (H)
Beat SL 3-0 in T20Is (H)
Beat SL 2-0 in Tests (H)
Beat Eng 2-1 in T20Is (A)
Beat Eng 2-1 in ODIs (A)
Beat WI 4-1 in T20Is (A)
Beat Aus 2-1 in T20Is (H)
Beat SA 2-1 in T20Is (H)

In reply, India lost Rohit Sharma in the first over of the run chase, and Shreyas Iyer didn't last long either. Dinesh Karthik was promoted to bat at number 4, and he batted with a positive mindset till the time he was out there in the middle. Was proving to be an entertaining knock, until he played an ugly reverse sweep, only to find the stumps rattled. SKY who has been in ominous touch, couldn't contribute much, and the remaining batters couldn't chip in with any significant contributions. barring a few cameos. The South African pacers conceded a lot of boundaries and gave away a lot of extras, but they kept taking wickets at regular intervals, unlike the last game. The biggest positives for them will be the spectacular knocks by Miller in the last game and Rossouw in this one. Stay around for the presentations..

22:39 Local Time, 17:09 GMT, 22:39 IST: A clinical performance by South Africa who have managed to avoid a 3-0 whitewash. If it was David Miller who played a rollicking knock in the previous game, it was Rilee Rossouw who played an equally impressive knock tonight. de Kock got them off to a flier, Rossouw weaved his magic, and Miller gave the finishing touches with his cameo as South Africa finished their innings on a high. India's bowling was once again under the scanner as most of their bowlers leaked plenty of runs. Their fielding wasn't that great either, as they put down quite a few chances.

Pretorius to Siraj, out Caught by Miller!! Siraj plays the helicopter shot to draw curtains to the game. A slower one by Pretorius and Siraj has lofted it towards long-off where Miller completes a safe reverse cup catch. South Africa win the final T20I of the 3-match series by 49 runs! Handshakes between the players as they start walking back to the pavilion. Siraj c Miller b Pretorius 5(7) [4s-1]

Pretorius to Siraj, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Pretorius to Siraj, no run, slower one by Pretorius outside off, Siraj attempts a flashy lofted shot, misses though

Pretorius to Umesh Yadav, 1 run, full in length around off, driven to wide long-off by Umesh Yadav for a single

Pretorius to Umesh Yadav, wide, back-to-back wide balls. Another wayward one outside off

Pretorius to Umesh Yadav, wide, another wide ball outside off

Rabada to Siraj, no run, short and quick on off, Siraj swings and misses

Rabada to Siraj, no run, short and slow outside off, Siraj attempts an upper cut, misses

Rabada to Siraj, FOUR, yorker length delivery by Rabada, but Siraj plays equally well. Opens his bat face really late and squeezes it past Ngidi at backward point

Rabada to Siraj, no run, good length delivery around off, Siraj swings and misses. That missed the top of the stumps just by a whisker

Rabada to Umesh Yadav, 1 run, slapped uppishly to backward point from where Ngidi fires in a throw to Rabada. He fails to collect it though, else Umesh Yadav could have been run-out