IND vs SA: India show power & poise to clinch 5th T20I and win series

AHEMDABAD: Hardik Pandya successfully slipped into beast mode for seven overs at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday night, with the 80,000-strong crowd lapping up every bit of his pyrotechnics.With exactly 50 days to go for the T20 World Cup at home, India are sweating over the form of their captain Suryakumar Yadav and his deputy Shubman Gill.

Instead, it was Pandya (63; 25b, 5x6, 5x4), Tilak Varma (73; 42b, 10x4, 1x6), Varun Chakravarthy (4-43 in four overs) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-17 in four overs) who produced inspirational performances to shape the Men in Blue’s 30-run win in the fifth and final T20I against South Africa. The 3-1 triumph in the T20I series, coming on the back of the 2-1 victory in the ODIs, rounded off a fine comeback by India in the white-ball leg of the series after losing the Tests 0-2.

With Shivam Dube (10 not out off five balls, 1x6, 1x4) also joining the party, India raced away to 231 for five after being asked to bat first by SA. The visitors tried hard but finished at 201 for eight, with Quinton de Kock (65; 35b, 9x4, 3x6) top-scoring for them.

Walking in to bat in the 13th over, Pandya, looking in a murderous mood, stepped out and smashed the first ball he faced, from Proteas pacer Corbin Bosch, for a six over mid-off, in what was clearly a ‘statement hit’. The ball struck the camera man stationed near the Indian dugout on his arm and he needed medical treatment.It was a sign of what Pandya, returning to the side in this series after a quadriceps injury kept him out since Sept end, was to unleash on the night.

Pandya tore into South Africa’s bowlers with his blistering strokeplay. The Mumbai Indians captain smashed a 16-ball half-century, the second fastest ever for India in T20Is after Yuvraj Singh’s famous 12-ball blitzkrieg against England in the 2007 World Cup. Hammering five sixes and an equal number of fours in a highly entertaining 25-ball 63, Pandya, who blew kisses to his girl friend Maheika Sharma after reaching his breathtaking half century and received a standing ovation from head coach Gautam Gambhir, made India forget all their T20 troubles.

By the time he was finally dismissed in the final over, India’s premier white-ball allrounder had put on 105 in just 44 balls for the fourth wicket with Tilak, who was also in a destructive mode. The left-hander complemented his Mumbai Indians captain’s raw power with elegant stroke play. With Surya continuing to fail — the skipper was out for a seven-ball five this time, caught at mid-off by David Miller off Corbin Bosch — Tilak now seems a certainty to bat at No. 3 in the World Cup.