India, South Africa share T20I series 2-2 as fifth game is washed out

India captain Rishabh Pant (left) and Shreyas Iyer walk back to the pavilion after rain halted play for the second time yesterday. Pic/PTI

As it turned out, South Africa retained their record of not losing a T20I series in India, just as the latter protected their unbeaten record at home dating back to 2018. The elements conspired to render the final game of the five-match series, fascinatingly poised at 2-2, a damp squib, with only 16 minutes of play possible either side of rain interruptions at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on a bleak, dismal Sunday.

It has been raining on and off at different times of the evening in different parts of the IT capital for the last several days. On Sunday, while several areas reported no rain, the CBD wasn't as fortunate.

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The first spell of sharp showers arrived promptly at 7pm, the scheduled start time, with the South African team and Indian openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad having made their way to the middle after stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj maintained the Proteas' perfect record at the toss.

The wonderful state-of-the-art subsurface aeration system ensured that when the rain eased up after 25 minutes, play could start at 7:50pm. For the record, India were 28 for two in 3.3 overs at the final stoppage.