IND vs SA: Tilak, Hardik and Varun Chakravarthy help India seal 3-1 series win, trump South Africa in series decider

It was the final match of 2025 for Team India, and for the hosts, it was not only the series at stake, but even their pride was on the line. After not losing a Twenty20 series for over two years, the hosts had to win the final contest of the five-match Twenty20 series against South Africa despite holding a slender edge with a 2-1 lead.

The Men in Blue came out all guns blazing to clinch the match by 30 runs after restricting South Africa to 201 for eight and complete the series 3-1. Half-centuries by Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma propelled India to a mammoth score of 231/5 in their 20 overs. The former Gujarat Titans captain used his familiarity with the Narendra Modi Stadium conditions to reach the milestone in 16 balls, only behind Yuvraj Singh.

A lot depended on South African opener Quinton de Kock to provide the right start, and the left-hander was at his best and found the right company in Dewald Brevis. But they couldn’t sustain the momentum and lost their way after losing four wickets in the space of three overs after the break. Varun Chakravarthy was the wrecker-in-chief with four for 53, while Jasprit Bumrah claimed two.

Losing the toss was a blessing in disguise for Suryakumar Yadav. Electing to field first, South African bowling came under a barrage of attack from the word go. India had made three changes to the team, with Shubman Gill missing due to a foot injury, while  Bumrah came in for Harshit Rana, and Washington Sundar for Kuldeep Yadav. South Africa brought in George Linde for Anrich Nortje.

Gill’s absence brought the dangerous opening pair of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma back to the crease, and they hunted like a pack of wolves, scoring 63 in 34 balls before an untimely exit brought the left-hander’s end.

Despite the wicket, India didn’t take their foot off the pedal. It’s not only the bowlers who faced the ire of Samson, but even the umpire was not spared, as a straight drive ricocheted off Donovan Ferreira to knock Rohan Pandit to the floor with a blow to his right knee.

Left-arm spinner George Linde ended Samson’s dominating stay with a beauty. It had to be a gem to dismiss a batter in such a punishing mood. The left-arm spinner drifted the ball in from wide of the stumps, and the ball spun from middle and leg to beat the bat of the Kerala star, who made a huge statement after being sidelined for the past six matches.

The carnage continued till the last ball despite the wickets of Pandya and Varma towards the end of the innings. If there is one area of concern, it is the form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who failed once again. South Africa began their case on a perfect note with de Kock and Reza Hendricks taking the score to 50 in the fourth over.

But the openers could not sustain the momentum and ended with 68 for no loss at the end of the powerplay, one run more and one extra wicket in hand than India.

Varun Chakravarthy, the world No. 1 bowler, thrives on such situations, and he didn’t disappoint his skipper by breaking the partnership and putting the brakes on South Africa’s chase. Slowly, but India was tightening the noose to stifle their rivals.

But de Kock and Dewald Brevis brought the much-needed impetus to the chase and added a quick 50-run partnership in just 22 balls. But while they scored 42 runs in two overs, both the Proteas batters were living dangerously in the 10th over. Pandya was the bowler who had the misfortune of seeing both batters survive sharp chances.

Those two overs brought South Africa firmly in the chase at 118 for one at the halfway mark. But it was the former world No. 1 Jasprit Bumrah’s turn to break the partnership again, dismissing the dangerous de Kock, caught and bowled. De Kock’s exit must have made Abhishek Sharma breathe with ease after dropping him earlier in the previous over.

Pandya struck again in his second over, dismissing Brevis, and the twin-blow all but extinguished South Africa’s hopes, even though they still had firepower in David Miller and captain Aiden Markram, but Varun Chakravarthy had other ideas to claim two wickets in one over.

The win enabled India and coach Gautam Gambhir to end the year on a positive note after suffering a humiliating 2-0 loss in the Test series. Now India will await New Zealand’s arrival to fine-tune their preparations for the World Cup.