India’s left-arm pacer, Arshdeep Singh, struggled in the second T20I of the five-match series against South Africa in New Chandigarh when he bowled nine wides in a single over and was bashed for several runs around the park. This was a concern for the management of how he would recover in three days and perform in the third clash at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala.

In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who went back home for personal reasons to miss the contest, the responsibility was on Arshdeep, who drew the first blood on the fourth ball of the game by trapping Reeza Hendricks' leg before the stumps for a duck. The previous two balls went away from the right-handed batter, who missed the in-swinging delivery on the dismissal.

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That was the third most ducks (7) for the Protea side, a list that has been topped by Quinton de Kock with nine such scores. In his second over of the spell, Arshdeep continued to swing the delivery, making it hard for the Protea batters to break their hands as they managed only 25 runs inside the powerplay.

Arshdeep Singh dismisses Reeza Hendricks via LBW

Arshdeep, with the wicket of Hendricks, overtook Bhuvneshwar Kumar to now have the most wickets (48) inside the powerplay for India in the shortest format of the game. He picked up the tally at an economy rate of 7.59, while Bhuvi had 47 wickets at an economy rate of just 5.73.

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First over, first breakthrough!

#ArshdeepSingh puts India on top straightaway. 🔥#INDvSA 3rd T20I | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/TBYQYBG4F9 pic.twitter.com/iJxOWJG6KV

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 14, 2025

South Africa continued to lose wickets in the first ten overs of the innings and found themselves limping at 44/4 at the halfway mark. Their captain, Aiden Markram, was, however, unbeaten in the middle for 28 runs in 26 balls with the help of four boundaries.

Earlier, India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Proteas made three changes to the eleven by bringing Tristan Stubbs, Corbin Bosch, and Anrich Nortje into the side, leaving out David Miller, George Linde, and Lutho Sipamla.