SA win toss, elect to bowl in fifth T20I; Sanju Samson comes in place of injured Shubman Gill
Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma took South Africa to the cleaners to lift India to a hefty 231/5 in the fifth and final T20I against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday.
Pandya smashed 63 off just 25 balls with five fours and five sixes, while Varma hit 73 off 42 balls including ten fours and a six.
Earlier, openers Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson gave India a rollicking start, bringing up their fifty partnership in just 4.4 overs. Corbin Bosch finally made the breakthrough in the sixth over, having Abhishek caught behind by Quinton de Kock for 34 off 21 balls.
Samson was castled by left-arm spinner George Linde for 37 off 22 balls, leaving India at 97/2 in the 10th over.
Samson is playing his first match of the series, replacing vice-captain Shubman Gill, who was ruled out of the last two games due to a toe injury.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav failed to get going once more, falling to Bosch for five off seven balls when he failed to clear David Miller at mid-off.
Pandya, who arrived at the fall of SKY, then launched a breathtaking assault on the Proteas bowlers, smacking Bosch over mid-off for six off the first ball he faced.
Varma was no slouch at the other end as the duo hammered Linde for 27 runs in his final over, of which 20 came from Pandya’s blade.
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram had won the toss and elected to bowl.
The Proteas made one change to their side, bringing in spin all-rounder George Linde in place of express bowler Anrich Nortje.
For India, apart from Samson, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who had missed the third T20I in Dharamsala due to personal reasons, came back in place of Harshit Rana, while Washington Sundar came in for Kuldeep Yadav.
Teams: South Africa: Quinton de Kock (w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (w), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.
