Rossouw smashes 48-ball ton as South Africa finish series with victory

Cricket

South Africa 227 for 3 (Rossouw 100*, de Kock 68, Umesh 1-34) beat India 178 (Karthik 46, Pretorius 3-26, Maharaj 2-34) by 49 runs

Rilee Rossouw smashed his maiden T20I century as South Africa posted their fourth-highest total in the format, and India batted and crumbled with full freedom in a massive chase of 228. That liberty was owed as much to their recently-adopted risky approach with the bat, as perhaps the fact that the series had already been sealed two days back. As a result, India crumbled to their first defeat in the last 17 chases in T20Is at home.

Rossouw cracked 100* – a score he reached off 48 balls – and added 90 free-flowing runs for the second wicket with Quinton de Kock. That partnership came off just eight overs, and included seven fours and six sixes, most of which were hit in the arc between deep midwicket and fine leg. De Kock hit 68 from 43 deliveries, setting the tone for the mountain of a score by flicking Mohammed Siraj for four and six in the second over.

In turn, India went hard too despite losing Rohit Sharma for a duck to the second ball of the innings; they had lost four wickets after only seven overs, yet had posted 78 with exactly as many fours and sixes as Rossouw and de Kock smashed during their stand. But in the end, the total proved far too big and out of their reach.

Rossouw and de Kock’s redemption
After failing to score a single run in the first two matches of the series, Rossouw got going only on the fourth ball he faced in Indore. Here too he started with three dots, before making up rapidly; by the end of the ninth over, he was on 30 off 15 balls, going after each of Siraj, Umesh Yadav and R Ashwin.

He flicked, pulled, swiped and hoicked to his liking, with neither the fuller lengths nor the shorter ones bothering him. A lot of luck went Rossouw’s way too: first, when on 24, he slog-swept Ashwin, only for the ball to pop out of Siraj’s hands for six over fine leg.

At the other end, de Kock made up for taking his time in the second T20I in Guwahati, the innings of 69 from 48 balls the difference between the sides then. He raced to his fifty off 33 balls, pulling Umesh over fine leg. The first ten overs had raised 96, as the partnership kept racing along.

Rossouw rode his fortune again. On the final ball of the 11th over, the short boundary came into play when the ball flew off the top half of the bat, and just beyond deep point. Just four balls later, India reviewed a potential leg-before chance off Ashwin, but even that returned not out.

The partnership ended when de Kock was run-out at the beginning of the 13th over. India had held back their left-arm spinner Axar Patel until 13 overs with two left-hand batters going gung-ho at the crease, and Rossouw just proved India’s fears right by slogging Axar’s third ball for six to reach his fifty off 27 balls.

Rossouw then pulled Harshal Patel in the 15th over, with the ball just going over a leaping Umesh at fine leg. In the next over, he even bisected long-on and deep midwicket as Deepak Chahar attempted a yorker. The last three overs fetched 50 runs for South Africa, including Tristan Stubbs’ cameo of 23 and David Miller’s final-over onslaught.

Miller crashed three sixes off Chahar, as the visitors hit 24 off the final over. Their total boosted up to 227.

India swing incessantly
In the chase, at 4 for 2 after the first ten balls – having lost Rohit and Shreyas Iyer cheaply – the hosts decided to experiment by promoting the finisher Dinesh Karthik to No. 4.

He declared his intentions first ball by pulling Wayne Parnell for four to deep midwicket. Next over, Rishabh Pant – who had opened alongside Rohit – hit Kagiso Rabada for four. The early boundaries gave India hope, and the full house at the Holkar Stadium something to cheer after the home bowlers were carted around earlier.

With only 25 on the board after four overs, Pant went 4, 6, 4, 6 off Lungi Ngidi, before Stubbs’ brilliant catch at cover-point sent him back for 27 off 14 balls. India were three down after five overs, with another 183 to get at a required run rate of over 12.

That’s when Karthik brought his finishing skills into play, attacking Parnell for 6, 4, 6 in the final over of the powerplay. As if that was not enough, he deposited Keshav Maharaj for consecutive sixes next over. But in an attempt to be too creative, he was bowled while trying to reverse scoop the spinner to balls later.

An innings of 46 from 21 deliveries came to an end, as with that slid India’s hopes. They had brought in only one batter in Iyer despite both Rahul and Kohli being rested. As a result, their allrounders were slotted for as early as No. 6, with Axar followed by the likes of Harshal, Ashwin and Chahar.

In the eighth over, Suryakumar swung a six of his own in typical style – shuffling across to a good-length ball, and flung the ball over short fine leg – but when Stubbs grabbed another fantastic catch just two balls later, India were 86 for 5 after eight overs.

Lower-order batters Harshal, Chahar and Umesh entertained with 17, 31 and 20* respectively, but India folded with nine balls left. South Africa got a consolation win to end the series scoreline at 2-1.

Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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