India vs South Africa 3rd T20 Highlights: Chahal, Harshal star in India's 48-run win; hosts keep series alive

He did not get it the first time, but finally dismisses Shreyas Iyer a delivery later as the batter walked back for 14 off 11. Another disappointing knock from Iyer and in walks captain Pant. 

IND 128/2 in 13 overs

Maharaj errs on the length and Ishan punishes him with a four over midwicket. He errs on line on the next ball and Ishan goes on one knee to muscle it over long off for a six. He completes his 2nd fifty in the series with a boundary.

IND 120/1 in 12 overs

Shreyas Iyer is the next batsman in. Nortje dishes out a great bouncer and Iyer looks to pull it but the ball takes the outside edge and flies over the wicketkeeper for a six. 7 runs comes off the over. 

IND 104/1 in 11 overs

Keshav Maharaj is the bowler with the big breakthrough for SA. A tossed up delivery that took an extra bit of turn to catch the outside edge of the bat as Gaikwad looked to play it through midwicket. Maharaj then completed a superb catch on return. 

IND 97/1 in 10 overs

In the third ball of the over, Gaikwad completes his maiden T20I fifty in 30 balls, Ishan then hits the over pitched delivery from Shamsi for a flat six. He then ends the over with yet another boundary as 13 runs comes off the over. 

IND 89/0 on 9 overs

Big chance for SA to make a breakthrough, but the ball off Ishan's bat falls shot of Van der Dussen in the deep. Gaikwad however continues to punish the South Africa attack as he smashes a four past short fine leg. 9 runs came off the over.

IND 76/0 in 8 overs

Shamsi is brought into the attack and Ishan Kishan ends the over with a boundary off a reverse sweep. 10 runs came off the over. 

IND 67/0 in 7 overs

51/0 - in New Delhi

42/1 - in Cuttack

57/0 - in Vizag

Dwaine Pretorius comes in next and Gaikwad flicked the fuller one in the fifth delivery high and over deep square leg for a six. India go past 50 in the powerplay.

IND 57/0 in 6 overs

SA make a bowling change as Anrich Nortje comes into the attack and Gaikwad smashed him for five straight boundaries. 20 runs came off the over. 

IND 48/0 in 5 overs

Change of length from Parnell and Ishan shimmies down to pull it through square leg, but a brilliant save from Nortje in the deep disallows the batter a boundary. Ishan looking to go bang bang now but gets denied yet again after he cut the wider one through backward point only to be stopped by the fielder in the deep. 6 runs off the over

IND 28/0 in 4 overs

Lucky there! Gaikwad hits his first boundary, but almost survives there. The delivery from Rabada takes the inside edge, goes past the stumps and through backward square leg for a boundary. In the fourth ball, Gaikwad goes over midwicket for a six. 12 off the over.

IND 22/0 in 3 overs

Ishan Kishan hits the first boundary in the game the same pull shot over midwicket. The delivery from Parnell was between short of length and good length and it doesn't rise much and Ishan hit it with ease. Just six runs off the over. 

IND 10/0 in 2 overs

Kagiso Rabada makes an impressive start as he concedes just four singles in the first over. 

IND 4/0 in 1 over

India openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad make their way to the middle. A big opportunity for Gaikwad, who has scored just 24 runs in two innings so far. 

The Men in Blue presently stand atop in the ICC T20I rankings with just a rating point ahead of England. If India lose today, the side is likely to concede the top spot.

“It's good for us to be together as a team again. The last time we played was the World Cup. We've been keeping things quite simple since the World Cup. (On his fitness) It's still not 100%, but getting there, some discomfort here and there. Generally good to get some game time in the middle. Different conditions playing in India, I haven't played too much here in general, that already is a new challenge for me. All in all, happy with the progress, hoping to keep on progressing until hopefully the next World Cup. I don't think anything will change for this game. Our plan is obviously to go 3-0 up and try and secure the series.”

“We would have bowled as well. But as an Indian team we are not looking at the toss too much. Same team. We spoke about getting better in execution and if we do that we will be fine. Looks like a better wicket, but feels a bit soft underneath.”

“The colour is different, has a yellowish tinge to it. Feels hard, looks like a good wicket to bat. Same team. Just want to focus on the areas we can improve.”

South Africa: Temba Bavuma(c), Reeza Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Anrich Nortje

India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan

And for the third time in the series, SA skipper Temba Bavuma wins the toss and opts to bowl against India

SA batters have feasted on the Indian spinners in the middle overs in the last two games. Klassen has scored 33 off 14, Miller has scored 26 off 12 while Rassie van der Dussen has managed 19 off 14.

Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel have put on an uninspiring performance in two games, conceding 75 and 59 in six and five overs in the two matches. Will India bring in young leggie Ravi Bishnoi for the third T20I?

"The outfield is cushy, soft and lush green. Straight boundary is long compared to the sides. The spinners have got a lot of purchase before it looks a much better pitch tonight to bat on. It sounds firm, looks like it has been rolled in really well. I don't think this will be a low-scorer. 170-180 could be a par total. I don't expect the spinners to get great assistance. It is slightly overcast and if it stays that way we may not have that dew. If you a batter, you would love to bat on this surface."

Burdened with the responsibility to lead the side in the series, Pant has managed scores of 29 and 5 in two matches so far. Since the start of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Pan t has scored just one half-century in 10 innings and scored 205 runs at a strike rate of 136.66.