5th T20I Team India eye Clinch series in Bengluru against South Africa

IND vs SA | The decider between India and South Africa will be a blockbuster on Sunday after the five-match T20I series draws 2-2. South Africa won the first two matches easily in Delhi and Cuttack, but the Indian team made a spectacular comeback to level the series by winning the next two matches in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot. In the fourth match at Rajkot, India registered their biggest win in T20Is in terms of runs over South Africa. Player of the match Dinesh Karthik played India's first T20 International in 2006 and it took him 16 years and 35 matches to score his maiden T20 International fifty. India won the fourth match by 82 runs to make the final match in Bangalore in the final of the series. The team which plays well with discipline in this match will win the series.

Karthik added a quick 65 runs for the fifth wicket with Hardik Pandya as the Indian team, which was faltering for 81 runs in 13 overs for the loss of four wickets in 13 overs, posted a challenging total of 169 runs. India scored 73 runs in the last five overs. In reply, South Africa's batting could not stand in front of the Indian bowlers and was reduced to 87 runs. This was South Africa's lowest score in T20 Internationals. South Africa lost their last five wickets in just 13 runs. Avesh Khan was the best bowler for India, taking four wickets for 18 runs in his career best performance. He took three wickets in his third over.

Captain Rishabh Pant's form is the only concern ahead of India's decider. This series has not been anything special for captain Rishabh Pant. He is not scoring runs while getting out in the same way. In three of the last four innings, he has been dismissed on balls that could have easily gone wide. He tries to forcefully hit the balls going far outside the off-stump and throws his wicket. In the fourth match, he went to sweep the full ball outside the wide line of Keshav Maharaj, hit the outside edge and it was a simple catch for Dwayne Pretorius at short third man.

After the match, Pant said, "We talked about playing well and executing the plan and we did that." The team which plays well in the last match will win. I can make some changes in my game but I don't give too much thought. In Bengaluru, we will do our best and try to win the series.

South Africa's vice-captain Keshav Maharaj said, 'We got more runs in the last five overs. We made mistakes in the powerplay while batting and we backed out. There will be an important match on Sunday and we have to do better. We lost wickets at frequent intervals which made it difficult to build a partnership. Credit should also be given to the Indian bowlers as they bowled brilliantly. In India it is difficult for me to bowl on small grounds. It will be a lot of fun in the final match in Bangalore.