India vs South Africa, 5th T20I at Bengaluru, IND v SA, Jun 19 2022 - Match Result

10.09pm Maharaj and Pant pose with the series trophy, big smiles on their faces. Both their teams played excellently through this series - a pity we couldn't get a full game today to determine a winner. Anyway, we hope you enjoyed our coverage. Until next time, it's goodbye and good night from me, Ashish and Chandan.

Rishabh Pant, India's captain: "It might get a little bit frustrating, but there are a lot of positives, especially the way the whole team showed character after the series was 2-0. We are trying to find different ways of winning matches, we are trying to play in a new way. Mistakes will happen, but we are going in the right way. I think this is the first time I've lost this many tosses at the same time, but it's not in my control, so I'm not thinking about it too much. From a team point of view it's now about winning the last Test match in England, and from a personal point of view I would like to contribute more to making my team win."

Keshav Maharaj, the South Africa captain: "Very disappointed that we couldn't get a full game. It would have been an exciting end to an exciting tour, but we can't control the weather. I think if you saw the way we played the first few games, we tried a few combinations. We're a work in progress, and we're trying different combinations to see how we shape up ahead of the World Cup. It's a strong Indian outfit we came up against, so we didn't want to take anything for granted."

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the Player of the Series. "When you get Man of the Series, it's always a proud moment, and as a bowler in T20, it's even better. I'm always focused on getting back stronger, whether it's my bowling or my fitness. I'm playing for years now, my role has always been the same. Bowl two in the powerplay, bowl two at the end. These things are always the same, but as a senior I always think about helping the youngsters. I've been lucky that the captain has given me the full hand and said do what you want. In that regard I've been blessed."

9.37pm Okay, handshakes are being exchanged in the dressing-room area, with the umpires also present, and it looks like the spectators are beginning to leave the stadium. I think we can safely say this match has been called off. This was always going to be a possibility when the BCCI decided to schedule a night game in Bengaluru in June. A terrific, closely-fought series ends without the decider it needed.

Karteek Chalago: "Unfortunately Rain has taken the MVP of the day...But who is Player of the tournament?I go with DK.." -- Kishan might be a strong contender too.

JP: "i think missing link for SA this series is Markram, they did not have anyone to anchor the innings at no 3 and once he is back .. it will be one of the strongest teams.. we all know how good he is.. all other player should be same ..also markram can give you few overs of spin ...for seamers just switch between nortje/parnell/marco for the 4th bowling option."

Mustafa Moudi : "Cricinfo starting a Pant Vs Karthik Debate in a match where Pant and Karthik are commentating... What a Coincidence!!" -- Weirdly, I'm fully on the Pant camp and Ashish is on the Karthik camp.

Himanshu: "Mark my words South Africa are very strong contenders for the cup. Bowlers win you tournaments and they have a bowling attack of top quality. Imagine Nortje and Rabada hitting hard lengths with that pace on Australian pitches. Also if Miller manages to stay in the current form, he can be really lethal. Only issue that they might need to sort is slight lack of batting depth."

9.35pm It's still drizzling, folks. On the subject of South Africa and rain, let's go back to the time they were famously robbed by rain (and a bizarre rain rule) in a World Cup semi-final. Except, let's consider the alternate view. In this piece from a couple of years ago, Sidharth Monga argues that South Africa were really not all that unlucky.

Niranjan: "I don't want an 5 overs match to spoil this excellent series, Let it be 2-2.."

Ballu : "SA needs to have a more set bowling lineup. Right now the Rabada and Ngidi pair should do well in the PP, but they need another bowler like Pretorius to handle death over business."

Barath: "South Africa are struggling to get a solid opening start. Quinton and Dewald Brewis can open the innings for South Africa."

Joydeepsinghgil: "South Africa only should switch the Bavuma position all other things is fine for them he couldn't take the benefit of powerplay and second obliged his partner to give away the wicket."

9.24pm Thanks, Ashish. No change at the Chinnaswamy yet. It's still drizzling, and the crowd is still waiting patiently. Less than 40 minutes remain until the cut-off time, which is 10.02pm.

"We have to wait for it to start. We can't start play with a drizzle," the umpires say in an interview with the broadcasters. They also say it'll take 25-30 minutes after the rain stops (whenever that is) for play to start.

We've had a lot of discussion here about India's T20I combination. Let's now have your thoughts on South Africa: where they stand right now vis-a-vis where they want to be by the time the T20 World Cup comes round.

9:15pm While it might be raining here, there is still international cricket to follow. Sri Lanka are going really well in the third ODI against Australia, as they look all set to chase down the 292-run target with Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka striking half-centuries. And, in Amsterdam, England have started their 236-run chase in the second ODI quite nicely.

As I look to get myself a cup of coffee, here's Karthik Krishnaswamy to take you through the next hour or so.

9:00pm Unfortunately, no good news from my end. The rain is still steady, the covers are firmly in place and the crowd, well has gone a bit mellow. The latest from Hemant is that play has to resume by 10:02pm local time for a five-over match. That is about 70-odd minutes from now.

Anyway, why not we continue our debate on the team selection. And how about some bowlers? How should the Indian bowling line-up look like?

Augustin Prasan: "Bumrah, Shami still the best opening partners. May be rotate Siraj, Harshal, Avesh as third seamer.. Chahal, Ashwin as the 2 spinners. And Hardik as the 6th option "

8:40pm The drizzle is still quite steady. We are likely to lose more overs now. Having said that, and I mentioned about the excellent drainage system at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Here's a bit more about the subsurface aeration system.

daryll: "No doubt Kohli is a cricketing legend, but him opening the innings in T20 seems like one risk too many for me, we saw what happened to India last world cup and we do not need a repeat. Let Kohli concentrate on his better formats: test and odis and let some of the younger talents such as Ishan take centre stage!"

Rahul RAGHUVANS: "I think Mohshin Khan Needed to be Partner With Bhuvi Or Deepak Chahar (If he Will Get fit)" Mohsin will get his chances, but will be hard to fit him in the current setup.

8:22pm: The rain continues to fall. A steady drizzle is what it is, tells Hemant. As we wait for more updates, let's get back to the Indian team selection debate.

ManiMohan: "More than intent, i think we need someone to open who can handle the pace and bounce well, ishan showed enough intent this series already." And in Australia, you can expect pace and bounce, at least early on. How about Virat Kohli to open the innings?

Sumit: "I will pick Shubman Gill as first choice of opener. Aggressive intent with proper cricketing shots and ability to play bigger innings." Let's hear some more names.

PK: "Really hope someone like Tripathi gets chances to open in Ireland ahead of Gaikwad after his poor series here...even Samson could be tried in opener role." really want Tripathi to do well.

laurie: "I agree with @darshak but think Samson might be the better option as he showed with RR he can really start whacking from ball one!"

Here's one to start off. Darshak : "About Indian team selection, India need either prithvi show or someone with the intent of going from ball 1. We don't need too many accumulators at top."

Jayant Isswani: "Ruturaj would be disappointed with himself. He should have known that a rain interruption is around the corner and he just needed to stay there!"

8.06pm And with that, the players are off yet again. The rain seems to have gotten heavier and the umpires have no option but to call for the covers. We wait again. There is a bit of breeze around, so here's hoping the clouds blow away. There is a constant drizzle, as Hemant tells us.

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Rishabh Pant is the new man in. Ngidi is around the wicket to him to start with.

Drizzling again

Kagiso Rabada starts from over the wicket

Around the wicket

Around the wicket to Kishan

Lungi Ngidi to start off from the other end. Over the wicket.

Around the wicket to the right-hander