A maiden T20I century for Rilee Rossouw spearheaded a sterling batting performance from the Proteas, as they have rounded off a rather tough T20I series on a high.

The series may have been lost, but there still was plenty to play for. India opted to send SA to bat first, and it was an eerily familiar start with the skipper dismissed cheaply for the third time.

However, Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw went about confidently after the early setback. It was a relatively quieter Powerplay, but both batters found their range during the middle overs.

Rossouw was the primary aggressor, but de Kock regularly found the boundary as well with some creative strokeplay.

It took a brilliant run-out to break the 90-run stand, but this was just when Rossouw was about to stamp his authority. Tristan Stubbs arrived at #4 and struck a couple of lusty blows, but it was all eyes on the big-hitting experienced left-hander, who reached his first triple-digit score in this format in the final over. It’s been a fairytale second-chance outing, as he has produced a masterclass against a strong England unit in England, and another against India in India.

Following Stubbs’ dismissal, David Miller arrived and carted Deepak Chahar for three sixes in the final four deliveries, taking the Proteas up to a gargantuan 227.

Coming to the chase, the situation only continued to improve for the South Africans. Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell both struck in their first overs, and it was already looking like a steeply uphill task in store.

Dinesh Karthik arrived at #4 and got to work right away. Rishabh Pant opened up against Lungi Ngidi, smashing two fours and two sixes in the 5th over. However, the dangerous innings was limited to a cameo when he chipped one to cover on the last ball.

For as long as Karthik stayed, India were in contention. But his innings was short-lived, too, as he missed a reverse slap off Maharaj and lost his off stump.

Suryakumar Yadav came and went, as did Axar and Harshal. A few late blows from Umesh Yadav and Deepak Chahar took the game deeper and provided some entertainment. But Dwaine Pretorius returned at the death to dismiss Chahar with a well-disguised slower delivery.

India folded for 178 in the penultimate over, coming up short by 49. This has been a handy confidence builder for the visitors, who were comfortably outclassed in the first game and fought hard in the second game, only to stop short.

The ODI series will be underway in two days, with the first game in Lucknow.

SA 227/3 in 20 overs (Rossouw 100*, de Kock 68)
IND 178 in 18.3 overs (Karthik 46, Chahar 31 – Pretorius 3.3-0-26-3, Maharaj 4-0-34-2)