3rd T20I: SA win inconsequential match; India unflustered in loss
The third umpire wanted confirmation when Tristan Stubbs’s low grab off Suryakumar Yadav – plucked just inches off the grass, a piece of supreme athleticism and anticipation – was clean. But Yadav had already begun galloping back to the dug-out, wearing half a smile, not even clinging onto the last drop of hope. Batsmen usually do linger on, especially as he was caught at deep point and it would have been impossible for him to be certain if the catch was clean or not. Besides, he was the last flickering hope of India overhauling the steep target of 227 South Africa had tasked them with.
Then, this incident summed up the mood of the match. There was a sense of playfulness, a streak of casualness—not complacency or a lack of intensity, but an un-concealable feeling that there was little...