India vs South Africa, 3rd T20I: Quinton de Kock second fastest wicket-keeper to 1,000 runs, Shikhar Dhawan completes 7,000 T20 runs and more stats

An unbeaten half-century by skipper Quinton de Kock and paceman Beuran Hendrick's strong performance with the ball helped South Africa thrash India by nine wickets to draw their Twenty20 series 1-1 on Sunday.

Quinton de Kock plays the reverse sweep. AP

Beuran returned figures of 2-14 to restrict India to 134 for nine after skipper Virat Kohli's surprising decision to bat first in the third and final match at Bangalore's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

De Kock then anchored the chase with his 79 – his second successive half-century – off 52 balls on a pitch where teams usually opt to bat second.

Related Articles

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma key for India in WTC final: Michael Hussey

IPL 2023: Five memorable moments from the 16th Indian Premier League edition

The left-handed De Kock, who was recently named captain in the shortest format and made 52 in a losing cause on Wednesday after the opening match was washed out, smashed six fours and five sixes.

De Kock put on 76 runs with opening partner Reeza Hendricks, who made 28, and then an unbeaten partnership of 64 with Temba Bavuma, 27 not out, to steer the team home.

But it was Beuran's bowling effort that set the tone for the Proteas' victory, with the left-arm quick the only change in the XI.

The hosts lost three of their top batsmen early, including Kohli for nine.

Rohit Sharma was the first to go for nine, caught at slip off Beuran while fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan returned to the dug-out for 36.

Let's take a look at the statistical highlights from the final T20I played at Bengaluru:

# Rohit Sharma has now played 98 T20Is - the joint most for India alongside MS Dhoni.

# Quinton de Kock became the third captain after Paul Stirling and Navneet Singh Dhaliwal to score fifty-plus runs in first two innings as a captain in T20Is.

# De Kock completed 1,000 runs in T20Is in 37 innings – the joint second fastest among keepers. The record is held by Brendon McCullum who achieved the feat in 31 innings.

# Virat Kohli is now the highest run-getter in T20Is, going past Rohit’s tally of 2443 runs.

# Shikhar Dhawan became the fourth Indian player to complete 7,000 runs in T20 cricket after Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit.

With inputs from AFP