Aiden Markram hit 61 runs to put up a fight for the SA team, but he did not receive enough assistance.
South Africa stumbled early and never recovered, as India earned a commanding seven-wicket victory in the third T20 International in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Set a target of 118 runs to win, the hosts reached 120/3 with 25 balls to spare, taking a 2-1 series lead with two matches to play.
Getting off to an aggressive start, India’s top-order batters racked up 68 runs in the powerplay to take the game away from the tourists.
Opener Abhishek Sharma hit 35 runs off just 18 balls to set an intense pace for India in their chase, and while the SA seamers did well to restrict the home team after the powerplay concluded and managed to reduce the run-rate, the damage had already been done.
Proteas innings
Earlier, after losing the toss and being sent in to bat, the Proteas experienced a top-order collapse which saw them flailing at 3/7 in the fourth over of their innings, with India’s frontline attack putting them under significant pressure.
On the back foot from the start, stand-in captain Aiden Markram was the only SA player to really put up real resistance, making 61 runs off 46 balls.
And while he got some assistance from all-rounder Donovan Ferreira, who contributed 20 runs down the order, and tail-ender Anrich Nortje (12) reached double figures, the South Africans were bowled out for 117 in the final over of their innings.
Dominant bowling effort
India’s bowlers combined well, with all six of their players who were given the ball taking wickets.
Varun Cakravarthy (2/11), Kuldeep Yadav (2/12), Arshdeep Singh (2/13) and Harshit Rana (2/34) grabbed two scalps each.
Seamers Arshdeep and Harshit tore through the top half of the order before spinners Varun and Kuldeep ripped through the lower order.
The fourth of five T20 matches between SA and India will be played in Lucknow on Wednesday.
