India A registered a four-wicket victory over South Africa A in the third ODI to seal the five-match series at Greenfield International Stadium here on Monday.
Due to wet outfield, there was a delay in the start of the match and consequently, the game was reduced to 30 overs per inning.
Chasing a target of 208 runs, India had a poor start as Anrich Nortje clinched two wickets in the second over. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (1) and Ricky Bhui (0) were the victims of Nortje.
Krunal Pandya and Ishan Kishan then started the chase but failed to stitch a partnership as the former was dismissed after scoring 13 runs. Msh Pandey then joined Kishan and played impeccably.
In the 15th over, Kishan (40) was dismissed by George Linde. Nitish Rana was the next batsman. Pandey completed his half-century in the 17th over, putting India on a dominating position in the match.
Linde struck again and this time, he took the wicket of Rana (13). Rana's dismissal brought Shivam Dube out on the field. Bjorn Fortuin provided his team with the most crucial breakthrough as he dismissed Pandey (81).
Axar Patel accomped Dube and both took India A over the line to register a four-wicket victory.
Earlier, after opting to bat first, South Africa A had a decent start as Janneman Malan and Reeza Hendricks struck regular boundaries. However, in the fifth over, Deepak Chahar provided India A with their first breakthrough as he dismissed Hendricks (9).
Matthew Breetzke then took the field but could not form a partnership as Malan too was sent back to the pavilion by Krunal Pandya after scoring 37 runs. Temba Bavuma was the next batsman.
Breetzke came out furiously and hit three sixes. However, in the 15th over, he got run out which ended his 36-run inning. Breetzke's dismissal brought Khaya Zondo out on the field but he failed to leave a mark as he gave away his wicket after scoring 21 runs.
In the 24th over, Bavuma (27) too got out and with his dismissal, half of the South Africa A side was sent back to the pavilion by India A when they were at 135 runs.
Heinrich Klaasen and George Linde took the charge and played brilliantly. Klaasen scored 44 runs off just 21 balls before Chahar got hold of him. Linde and Junior Dala got out in quick succession and South Africa A only managed to score 207 runs after the conclusion of 30 overs.
The fourth ODI between both the teams will be played on September 4.
Brief scores: India A 208/6 (Msh Pandey 81, Shivam Dube 45*, Anrich Nortje 41-2) defeated South Africa A 207/8 (Heinrich Klaasen 44, Janneman Malan 37, Krunal Pandya 23-2) by four wickets.
( With inputs from ANI )
