India closed out a 30-run victory against South Africa in the fifth and final T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday to seal the series 3-1. Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma were the architects of the win, blasting quickfire fifties to lift India to an imposing 231/5.
That proved to be more than enough although Quinton de Kock did give India a scare with a breezy half century of his own as South Africa sped off the blocks to 118/1 after 10 overs.
Then came the collapse. de Kock, who had hammered 65 off 35 balls including nine fours and three sixes, fell to a return catch by Jasprit Bumrah to give India the much-needed breakthrough.
In the next over, Pandya removed Dewald Brevis for 31 off 17 balls as the Proteas stumbled to 122/3. Worse was to follow as Varun Chakravarthy took out skipper Aiden Markram and Donovan Ferreira off successive balls to leave South Africa at 135/5.
Arshdeep Singh then sent back David Miller, while Varun went on to take his fourth wicket by dismissing George Linde in his final over. However, that over went for 21 with Linde hitting a six before getting out and Marco Jansen then smashing two sixes in a row.
Before Jansen could do any further damage, Bumrah had him caught behind by Sanju Samson to kill off the contest. Jansen got a faint nick that the on-field umpire failed to hear but India successfully reviewed the decision.
The rest was a formality as South Africa limped to 201/8, with Bumrah finishing with eye-popping figures of 2/17 in his four overs.
Earlier, Pandya and Tilak Varma took South Africa to the cleaners to lift India to 231/5. Pandya smashed 63 off just 25 balls with five fours and five sixes, while Varma hit 73 off 42 balls including ten fours and a six.
Openers Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson had given India a rollicking start, bringing up their fifty partnership in just 4.4 overs. Corbin Bosch finally made the breakthrough in the sixth over, having Abhishek caught behind by Quinton de Kock for 34 off 21 balls.
Samson was castled by left-arm spinner George Linde for 37 off 22 balls, leaving India at 97/2 in the 10th over.
Samson was playing his first match of the series, replacing vice-captain Shubman Gill, who was ruled out of the last two games due to a toe injury.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav failed to get going once more, falling to Bosch for five off seven balls when he failed to clear David Miller at mid-off.
Pandya, who arrived at the fall of SKY, then launched a breathtaking assault on the Proteas bowlers, smacking Bosch over mid-off for six off the first ball he faced.
Varma was no slouch at the other end as the duo hammered Linde for 27 runs in his final over, of which 20 came from Pandya's blade.
While Varma brought up his half century off 30 balls, Pandya stormed to his fifty off just 16 balls. Both were dismissed in the final over but by then the damage had been done.
South Africa skipper Aiden Markram had won the toss and elected to bowl.
The Proteas made one change to their side, bringing in spin all-rounder George Linde in place of express bowler Anrich Nortje.
For India, apart from Samson, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who had missed the third T20I in Dharamsala due to personal reasons, came back in place of Harshit Rana, while Washington Sundar came in for Kuldeep Yadav.
Teams: South Africa: Quinton de Kock (w), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (w), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.