IND vs SA 3rd T20I: Hardik Pandya scripts history with 100 T20I wickets

Dharamsala: India all-rounder Hardik Pandya etched his name into the record books during the third T20I against South Africa at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday. Pandya became the first Indian cricketer to take 100 wickets with over 1,000 runs scored in T20 internationals, underlining his value as a genuine all-rounder in the shortest format.

India skipper Suyrakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first in the 3rd T20I.

The landmark wicket came in the seventh over when Pandya dismissed Tristan Stubbs, taking his T20I tally to three figures. With this, he also joined Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah as the only Indian bowlers to have claimed 100 wickets in T20 internationals. Bumrah had reached the milestone earlier in the series during the opening match in Cuttack, where he removed Dewald Brevis.

India made a couple of changes to their playing XI for the contest. Harshit Rana came in for Bumrah, who was ruled out due to personal reasons, with the BCCI stating that his availability for the remaining matches remains uncertain. Kuldeep Yadav was also included, replacing Axar Patel, who is unwell.

South Africa, meanwhile, brought back Corbin Bosch, Tristan Stubbs and Anrich Nortje for the Dharamsala fixture. The five-match series stood evenly poised at 1-1, following the Proteas’ 51-run win in the second T20I at Mullanpur.

Teams

India: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.

South Africa: Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman.