Facing a must-win situation after losing the first two games, a young Indian team, led by skipper Rishabh Pant, made a strong comeback in the third T20I, and defeated South Africa by 48 runs in Vishakhapatnam. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan scored fifties, before Hardik Pandya's 31-run knock took India to 179 for five in 20 overs. In reply, South Africa kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bowled out for a paltry total of 131. Harshal Patel registered his best international figures of 4 for 25 while Yuzvendra Chahal also bagged three wickets to cap off a dominant win.
Taking to Twitter, several former cricketers hailed the team for their gutsy performance against the Proteas.
Here are some of the reactions:
"Solid comeback by team India Defended the total in style. Pant rotated the bowlers well too," former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan tweeted.
"Many congratulations to the Indian team on their brilliant win. What an outstanding display of game by the entire team. A superb knock by @Ruutu1331 and sensational performance by @yuzi_chahal and @HarshalPatel23. Well played boys!" former India batter Suresh Raina wrote on Twitter.
"Good to see team India making a comeback in the series .. top win with some top bowling performances @yuzi_chahal #harshalpatel," Harbhajan Singh captioned a post.
"My player of the match would be @yuzi_chahal. Broke the back of SA middle order. 4-0-20-3, conceded just one boundary. Super stuff," former India opener Wasim Jaffer quipped.
The fourth and penultimate T20I will be played in Rajkot on Friday, June 17.