India vs South Africa Stat Attack: Proteas’ lowest total, Men in Blue’s biggest victory and more – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

India drew the five-match T20I series against South Africa 2-2 after the series decider in Bengaluru was washed out on Sunday, after just 3.3 overs were bowled, effectively ending India’s streak of seven T20I series wins at home with the draw.

The Proteas won the first two games by seven and four wickets respectively, whereas India managed to bounce back winning the third match by 48 runs and the fourth match by 82 runs.

South Africa came with a full-strength squad, except for injuries that forced them to keep their players out of the playing XI. India, on the contrary, had rested several of its key senior players. However, the series was fought hard between the two teams and while some records were created, some numbers were overshadowed.

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Here are some statistical highlights from the series:

— India’s ace pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar won the Player of the Series award for scalping six wickets at an eye-catching economy of 6.07 and troubling the Proteas batters in every match. He is currently the only Indian pacer to win the Player of the Series award twice. The first time he won the award was also against South Africa in an away series in 2018.

— South Africa chased down 212 runs for the loss of just three wickets in the series opener in New Delhi. This was the highest run chase for Proteas in a T20I, overtaking their previous best of 206 against West Indies in 2007. This was also the highest run chase in a T20I against India by any team.

David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen walk off after guiding South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over India in the first T20I in Delhi. Sportzpics

— Rassie van Der Dussen and David Miller stitched an unbeaten partnership worth 131 for the fourth-wicket in the first T20I in New Delhi. This was the second-highest fourth-wicket partnership of all time amongst full member nations. Interestingly, van der Dussen was also involved in the previous second-best partnership of 127 not out with Faf du Plessis. The highest fourth-wicket partnership is the 161-run stand between David Warner and Glenn Maxwell against South Africa in 2016.

— Dinesh Karthik scored 55 in 27 balls in the fourth match of the series at Rajkot. This was his first half-century in 37 games in a career spanning more than 15 years. He made his T20I debut in 2006 when India played their first-ever Twenty20 International against the same opponent in Johannesburg.

— The drawn series extended South Africa’s unbeaten run in limited-overs bilateral series’ in India for more than a decade. They last lost an ODI series in India in 2010. Since then, they have won one T20I series in 2015 (2-0) and drawn one in 2019 (1-1). The Proteas also won an ODI series in 2015 (3-2).

— India defeated South Africa by 82 runs in the fourth match of the series in Rajkot. This was the biggest win for India against South Africa in terms of runs, eclipsing the previous record of 48 runs that was incidentally set in the same series — in the third match at Visakhapatnam to be precise.

— The Proteas were bowled out for 87 in Match 4 at Rajkot. South Africa reached a new low with this score, breaching their previous lowest score of 89 against Australia in 2020.

— Heinrich Klaasen scored 81 runs in the second match in Cuttack. This was the highest individual score for South Africa against India in T20Is. Klaasen surpassed De Kock’s 79 not out that he scored in Bengaluru in 2019.

India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar celebrates after dismissing South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks during 2nd T20I in Cuttack on Sunday. Sportzpics

— Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up three wickets in the power play of the second match. This was the second instance of him wreaking havoc on the opposition in the powerplay. The first instance was on his T20I debut against Pakistan in 2012.

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