India-South Africa T20 series ends 2-2

Wednesday 22nd June 2022 07:14 EDT
 
 

The fifth and deciding Twenty20 international between India and South Africa was abandoned due to rain in Bangalore on Sunday with the series ending level at 2-2.

Indian skipper Rishabh Pant on Sunday said India's different approach to win matches has paid off after their Twenty20 international series against South Africa ended 2-2 with the final game being washed out.

The hosts bounced back from 2-0 down to level the series with convincing victories in the absence of top stars including regular captain Rohit Sharma and batting stalwart Virat Kohli.

Rain played spoilsport in the series decider in Bangalore when persistent showers forced umpires to call off the match with just 3.3 overs bowled and India on 28-3 after being put into bat first.

"It might get a little bit frustrating (with the no result), but there are a lot of positives, especially the way the whole team showed character after the series was 2-0 (in favour of South Africa)," said Pant.

"We are just finding different ways to win the matches, we are trying to play different kind of cricket which we never used to play. There will be mistakes but as along we learn from our mistakes and keep improving it will be fine."

India won the third match by 48 runs and then hammered the hosts by 82 runs for their second successive win on Friday.

Pace bowler Bhuvenshwar Kumar was named player of the series for his six wickets. Indian opener Ishan Kishan topped the batting chart with 206 runs.

Pant, who was made national captain for the first time ahead of the series when KL Rahul pulled out injured, had an ordinary outing with scores of 29, 5, 6 and 17.

"It is for you guys to decide on how I am doing as a player and captain," the wicketkeeper-batsman said on his first series as Indian leader. "I can only focus on giving my 100 per cent every time I go on the field and keep improving."

India now head to Ireland for two T20 international matches while a few players including Pant head straight to England for a rescheduled fifth Test starting on July 1in Birmingham.


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