SERIES STATS 
Follow UsAfter suffering two early defeats, the home team made a strong comeback to level the series and take them to the decider. However, a wash-out in the last T20I in Bengaluru saw the series end up in even terms (2-2). As always, a series isn’t complete without stats and her are a few:
South Africa still to be defeated on Indian soil
In the shortest format of the game, South Africa have toured India thrice, and in none of the three have India won the series. Their first tour was in 2015, and they won the three-match series 2-0 as the last T20I at Kolkata was washed out.
In their next tour in 2019, the first match was abandoned at Dharamsala, and in the remaining two, each of them won one match, ending up 1-1. In the 2022 tour, both teams were settled even at 2-2. In fact, India have a win/loss ratio of 0.6 against South Africa on home turf in T20Is, their lowest against a team.
All five tosses lost
The start to Rishabh Pant’s career as captain wasn’t a pleasant one as India lost the first two T20Is under his leadership. Hence, making him the first Indian captain to lose his first two matches.
However, with two back-to-back wins, Pant made up for his false start. But, throughout the series, the one thing that didn’t go according to him was the toss. Pant lost the toss in all five matches of the series. Hence, India became the first team to lose five tosses in a bilateral T20I series.
A settled and unchanged side
Irrespective of the losses in the first two T20Is, India’s faith in their XI wasn’t hampered, especially the bowling unit. Often when a team ends up on the losing side while defending 211 in T20Is, a whole lot of changes are made to the bowling line-up.
It is not only the bowlers, even batsmen who failed, were given opportunities to rectify. By virtue of the faith of their management, India played the whole series without making a change to their XI. They became the first team to play a five-match T20I bilateral series with the same XI throughout. Among the top 10 ranked nations, only West Indies in the 2014 T20 World Cup and Pakistan in 2021 WC, featured the same XI throughout.
South African spinners taken to the cleaners
At the start of the series, both team’s spinners were completely ineffective. Both the team’s spinners had conceded over 11 runs/over with two wickets apiece. However, Indian spinners completely turned it around in their next two matches.
On the other hand, South African spinners failed to improve and throughout the series, they conceded at an economy of 10.3. In a T20I series in which South African spinners have bowled 10+ overs, this is the first series in which they have conceded over 10 runs/overs.
Bhuvneshwar back at his best in powerplay
Among the shining stars from this series, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the brightest one of all. The experienced candidate was back at his best, troubling the batsmen with his swing and length at the start of the innings.
Bhuvi had picked up four wickets in the first six overs in this series. But, more than the wickets, it was his impeccable consistency of length that saw his economy under four in this phase throughout the series. Among Indian bowlers who have bowled three-plus innings in a series in this phase, his economy of 3.6 is the second best. The top spot is also acquired by him.
Kishan, another bright spot
After making a huge reputation before the auction of the 2022 edition of the IPL, Ishan Kishan was bought by Mumbai Indians for a whopping price of 15.25 crores. But, the left-handed dasher faded away as the tournament passed by.
Still, he was preferred as the first-choice opener for this series. The faith was repaid as he scored 206 runs in five innings with two 50+ scores. He scored those runs at a strike rate of 150. In a T20I bilateral series, only Virat Kohli (231) in 2021 against England (Home) and KL Rahul (224) in 2020 against New Zealand (Away) two players have hit more runs than him.
South Africa, started with a high and ended with a low
By chasing down 211 runs in the first T20I, South Africa achieved their highest chase in T20Is and won the first encounter on a high.
But, in the last T20I that they batted, the fourth, chasing 170, the Proteas registered their all-time low score in T20I. Following an injury for Temba Bavuma, he couldn’t bat in the innings and South Africa were bundled out for 87/9, their lowest score in T20Is. Previously, against Australia in 2020 in Johannesburg, they were all-out for 89.
