Bengaluru, Sep 22 (IANS): Kagiso Rabada took three wickets while Beuran Hendricks and Bjorn Fortuin bagged two each as South Africa restricted India to 134/9 in the third T20I here on Sunday.
Shikhar Dhawan top scored for India with a 25-ball 36 (4x4, 6x2), while only three other players managed double digit scores.
After winning the toss, skipper Virat Kohli said that the hosts wanted to put pressure on themselves and improve upon defending totals going into next year's World T20.
The plan seemed to be working as Dhawan came out all guns blazing, underlining India's intentions to take a more aggressive approach with the bat. His opening partner Rohit Sharma did not last long, being dismissed by Hendricks for 9.
Kohli then came in and held on as Dhawan went after the bowlers. The pair shared a 41-run stand for the second wicket before Dhawan holed out to Temba Bavuma at long-on off Tabraiz Shamsi.
Kohli then tried to shift gears but ended up giving a catch to Andile Phehlukwayo at the square-leg boundary off Rabada. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer then struggled to rotate the strike, before the former fell for a slow 20-ball 19.
Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya's 29-run stand was the only significant contribution India had after that as they set a target of 135 for South Africa to chase and level the the three-match series which the hosts lead 1-0. The first match in Dharamsala was washed out without a ball being bowled on September 15.
Brief scores: India 134/9 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 36, Ravindra Jadeja 19; Kagiso Rabada 3/39) vs South Africa