Men in Blue clinch T20I series

Cape Town: India quelled a late charge by the South African batsmen to clinch a nail biting seven-run victory in the third and final Twenty20 International (T20I) here on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 173 runs, the Proteas could only manage 165/6 in their 20 overs. India have thus won the three-match series 2-1. The match came alive in the last seven overs as Jean-Paul Duminy and debutant Christiaan Jonker took the battle to the Indian bowlers.

The hosts were struggling at 79/3 after 13 overs when Duminy and decided to change gears with a 30-run stand which came off just three overs.
Although Duminy fell after scoring 55 runs off 41 deliveries, Jonker continued to trouble the visitors with some superb strokeplay.

Jonker smashed his way to 49 runs off just 24 balls and almost took the hosts to victory before falling off the last ball of the match. For India, fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up two wickets while Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Suresh Raina got a wicket each. Fellow pacer Chris Morris returned 2/43 while left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi also got a wicket.

Brief scores: South Africa 165/6 (Jean-Paul Duminy 55, Christiaan Jonker 49, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/24) lost to India 172/7 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 47, Suresh Raina 43, Junior Dala 3/35).