India and South Africa shared spoils in their five-match T20I series as their fifth and final match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore was washed out by incessant rains, with play being possible for only 3.3 overs on Sunday night.
South Africa and India thus shared the spots in the five-match series 2-2, with the visiting team winning the first two games comprehensively before the home team, led by makeshift captain Rishabh Pant, got their act together to bounce back and draw levels with two impressive wins.
Before the rain interrupted the proceedings, forcing the match officials to declare a washout, South Africa had reduced India to 28/2 dismissing both their openers. The right-arm South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi struck twice in quick succession to remove the Indian openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad to give his side early momentum.
Ishan Kishan was off to a quick start striking a couple of sixes in the first over off South Africa captain Keshav Maharaj, racing to 7 ball 15 before he was removed by a brilliant slow ball from Lungi Ngidi.
The other opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was surprised by the South African pacer soon after the dismissal of Krishan Krishan, forcing the batsman to play in the air and he was caught by Dwaine Pretorius for 10 from 12 balls with the help of a boundary.
South Africa had taken 2-0 lead in the series winning the first match by seven wickets in which they scored 212/3 in reply to India’s total of 211/4 in New Delhi on June 8. South Africa were bolstered by half-centuries from David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen in a big chase.
In the second match played at Cuttack, South Africa restricted India for a moderate total of 148/6 and scored 149/6 in 18.2 overs with Heinrich Klassen getting a superb half-century for the visiting side and giving them a real shot at winning the series in the third match itself.
But India bounced back with the third match at Visakhapatnam by scoring 179/5 mandal in South Africa out for 131 and 19.4 hours, recording a huge win by 48 runs, a margin which almost doubled in the next match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground in Rajkot. After putting up a huge total of 169/6, Avesh Khan took 4 wickets to help India bowl South Africa out for just 87, thus winning the contest by 82 runs and level the series 2-2.
The Indian players will now disburse as they have upcoming assignments in England as well as Ireland with a different bunch of players under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya will face the Irish side in a two match T20I series, whereas some of the players who played against South Africa will head over to England to prepare for the fifth and final Test of the series which was left incomplete last year.