South Africa win T20I series against India despite crowd trouble
Match stopped twice as fans throw bottles in crowd...
Thursday 8 October 2015 17:36, UK
South Africa beat India by six wickets in a match marred by crowd trouble to win the T20 international series with one game still to play.
South Africa's run-chase in Cuttack had to be halted twice as some unruly fans began to fling bottles in the crowd.
They were perhaps protesting against a poor performance from the home side, who had earlier been bowled out for just 92 inside 18 overs after a blistering display from the Proteas in the field.
Imran Tahir (2-24) - on a hat-trick at one point - impressed with the ball while David Miller and AB de Villiers brilliantly affected two run-outs.
Ravichandran Ashwin (3-24) had South Africa in trouble briefly at 49-3 after eight overs, but the visitors eventually sealed the series win after the interruptions from the crowd.
Having won the first T20I of the series in Dharamsala when successfully chasing 200, South Africa opted to field first again on a crack-filled surface, and in just the second over leg-spinner Tahir got one to rear up off a length and knock Rohit Sharma's bat loose.
Sharma - who hit India's highest T20I score in defeat on Friday - batted nicely again for 22, but his partner Shikhar Dhawan continues to struggle in the shorter format. He fell lbw to Chris Morris (2-16) in the fourth over for 11 and now averages just 14.38 across his eight T20I appearances.
Virat Kohli was run out for one two balls later - De Villiers whipping the bails off in a flash after a good throw by Morris - and Sharma perished in the same fashion in the eighth over, Miller the fielder this time.
Ambati Rayudu was then out for a duck, bowled by a Kagiso Rabada (1-18) full-toss, to leave India in tatters at 45-4 in the ninth.
Suresh Raina (22) tried his best to limit the damage with a few sweetly-struck boundaries but shortly after Albie Morkel (3-12) accounted for captain MS Dhoni, Tahir picked up Raina and Harbhajan Singh in two balls to again have India in huge trouble at 69-7.
Tahir couldn't claim the hat-trick, but the innings didn't last too much longer as Morkel took two wickets in three balls in the 16th over, and Morris bowled Ashwin to end proceedings.
De Villiers (19) emphatically cracked Bhuvneshwar Kumar away for a pair of boundaries in the first over of South Africa's run-chase, but the visitors didn't have things go all their own way, as Hashim Amla was dismissed for two by Ashwin in the second over.
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Faf du Plessis (16) thumped Ashwin down the track for a four and then a six in the sixth over, but then holed out to mid-off two balls later.
Ashwin claimed his third victim, bowling De Villiers in his next over to have the Proteas briefly rattled before two stoppages to the game due to crowd trouble.
The players walked off after the 11th and 13th overs but thankfully JP Duminy (30no) was able to guide South Africa to the series win when play did finally resume, victory being secured in the 18th over.
Watch the third and final T20I between India and South Africa live on Sky Sports 3 HD from 2.15pm on Thursday, October 8.
