Harshal, Chahal ensure India stay alive in the series
Fifties from Gaikwad and Kishan also play a part in hosts' dismantling of South Africa in Vizag
India were off to a solid but unspectacular start until Anrich Nortje came on to bowl the fifth over and Gaikwad got hold of him. Nortje started in signature fashion - short - but also bowled it wide and Gaikwad only had to stand and cut to find the boundary. Nortje delivered the next ball on a length, and Gaikwad charged down and lofted him over mid-on, prompting Nortje to default back to the bouncer. His third ball came in viciously from outside off and took the grille of Gaikwad's helmet and raced to the third-man rope. Gaikwad was given the runs, but later taken away as leg-byes, even as he had to have a concussion test.
Shreyas Iyer has yet to look entirely convincing in this series and scored his first runs in this innings with a top edge off Nortje that went for six. Shreyas was much more in control of his next runs, when he skipped down the track to launch Shamsi over mid-off. The spinner had already been hit for 23 runs in his first two overs and was not having as good a time as he would have liked to celebrate his 50th T20I. But he thought he had turned things around when three balls later, Shreyas was given out lbw as he tried to sweep. Shreyas reviewed immediately, with replays indicating that he had gloved the ball. Just when Shamsi may have thought his night wouldn't improve, Shreyas swept again, but didn't keep it down and Nortje timed his jump perfectly at square leg to take the catch.
It's not like South Africa to put down chances and it's even less like Miller and Rassie van der Dussen but they were both guilty of mistakes. Miller's was the simpler of the two, when Hardilk Pandya, on 1, sliced Shamsi on the off side and he only had to hold on, but couldn't. van der Dussen's required running in from deep backward point when Pant, on 4, slashed at a wide Dwaine Pretorius delivery. He got to the ball but it popped out of his hands. van der Dussen's drop only cost two runs when, later in Pretorius' over, Pant again lofted the seamer over the offside. Bavuma ran back from mid-off to take the catch. Pandya's let-off was more costly. He went on to score 31 runs and help India take 41 off the last five, to push the total over 175.
Without Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram, the spotlight was always going to shine brightly on South Africa's opening pair and their strike rates. Temba Bavuma and Reeza Hendricks' career strike-rates sit at 121.75 and 121.44 respectively and both struggled to get going against a classic Bhuvneshwar Kumar opening spell. He swung the ball both ways to deliver two overs for seven runs but was taken off by Pant, who has developed a habit of replacing bowlers who are applying pressure. Bhuvneshwar's squeeze worked - Bavuma was caught at mid-on as he tried to clear the in field off Axar. Hendricks edged Chahal, but the chance didn't carry to slip, before he swung at a Harshal slower ball and was caught at mid-off to end the powerplay on 38 for 2.
van der Dussen was dismissed for 1 when he was caught behind off a Chahal delivery that turned away from him as he tried to cut and two overs later Pretorius went in a similar way but it was only when Miller was done in by a slower ball from Harshal that South Africa's middle order was opened up for the first time in the series.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent