Hardik Pandya hit five sixes en route to a 16-ball half-century as his quick-fire 105-run partnership with Tilak Verma led India to a 30-run win over South Africa on Friday to clinch the five-match Twenty20 series 3-1 in Ahmedabad.
Chasing 232, South Africa got off to a fast start with Quinton de Kock’s 35-ball 65, but opener Jasprit Bumrah was caught off the ball and Varun Chakraborty took successive wickets.
To bat, India were without Shubman Gill, who suffered a right leg injury during practice, and Sanju Samson (37) and Abhishek Sharma (34) put on 63 for the first wicket in 5.4 overs, with Corbin Bosh caught by Sharma.
Samson Donovan tried to ground Ferreira but the ball hit umpire Rohan Pandit in the jaw and required medical attention before he could continue.
George Linde dismissed Samson early as the hosts hit only one boundary in the 10th and 12th overs. But Pandya, on five, hit Bhosh for a six off his first ball and hit a cameraman at long-off, requiring medical attention.
The relentless Pandya (63 off 25 balls) conceded just one dot before scoring the second-fastest half-century by an Indian in men’s T20 Internationals since Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball half-century against England in 2007.
Pandya was caught at deep midwicket in the last over and Verma added 73 off 42 balls before he got out trying to steal a run as India posted 231-5.
De Kock hit three boundaries in the first over and led South Africa to 67-0 in the first six overs, keeping up with the required run rate before falling to Bumrah.
Dewalt Previs (31) was caught soon after by a slow bouncer from Pandya. Chakraborty (4-53) was caught leg-before by skipper Aidan Markram before he edged Donovan Ferreira off the next ball.
Marco Johnson (14) was the last to stand and hit Chakraborty for successive sixes before edging Bumrah’s off cutter to the keeper as South Africa’s innings ended on 201-8.
India will host New Zealand for three one-day internationals and five T20Is before co-hosting the T20 World Cup from February. South Africa will play the T20I series against the West Indies from next month.