India beats South Africa by 7 wickets to take 2-1 lead in T20 series

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DHARAMSALA, India (AP) — Aiden Markram helped South Africa avoid another unwanted batting record but it wasn't enough to stop India winning a lopsided third Twenty20 match by seven wickets on Sunday.

Put into bat, South Africa rallied from 7-3 to 117 all out in 20 overs and India replied with 120-3 in 15.5 overs under the floodlights at Dharamsala to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

South Africa had looked in danger of scoring fewer runs than its series-opening 74, the team’s worst total in T20 cricket, before Markram’s defiant knock. The South Africa captain hit two sixes and six fours in his 46-ball innings before he was caught behind against pacer Arshdeep Singh (2-13 in four overs).

Harshit Rana claimed 2-34 in four overs after replacing Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the game for personal reasons. Kuldeep Yadav took 2-12 in two overs, including the wicket of Ottneil Baartman off the final ball of South Africa’s innings.

India made light work of the chase. Openers Abhishek Sharma (35 runs off 18 balls) and Shubman Gill took the hosts to 43 without loss after 3.1 overs, the same stage at which South Africa was 7-3.

Sharma and Gill shared an opening stand of 60, which was ended by Markram's running catch from Sharma off the bowling of Corbin Bosch. Gill was bowled by Marco Jansen for a run-a-ball 28. South Africa quick Lungi Ngidi (1-23) dismissed India captain Suryakumar Yadav, who was caught by Baartman for 12.

Tilak Varma (26 not out) and Shivam Dube (10 not out) took India home in the latest twist in an unpredictable series. South Africa won the second T20 by 51 runs after losing the first match by 101 runs.

The fourth T20 is on Wednesday at Lucknow.

The series is in preparation for the T20 World Cup in India in February. India is the defending champion after beating South Africa in a gripping end to the final in 2024.

India won the ODI series against South Africa 2-1 after losing the test series 2-0.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket