(Refiles amending Abhishek Singh to Abhishek Sharma in third paragraph)
Dec 14 (Reuters) - India beat South Africa by seven wickets on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the T20 series after their bowlers skittled the tourists for 117, with Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh's performance setting up the platform for a dominant win for the hosts in Dharamsala.
After being asked to bat, South Africa struggled to build partnerships with all six Indian bowlers taking wickets. Captain Aiden Markram scored more than half of his team's total, with his 61 off 46 helping the visitors cross the 100-run mark.
In reply, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill gave a strong start to India, and despite South Africa putting pressure with disciplined bowling in the middle overs, the hosts chased down the total in just 15.5 overs.
"I stuck to the basics and I trusted my skillset," Arshdeep, who registered figures of 2-13 in his four overs, said after being named the player of the match.
"I kept things simple, pitched the ball in the right areas and tried to get as much help as I could from the wicket."
SA TOP ORDER COLLAPSE
Jasprit Bumrah was unavailable for the game after the Indian cricket board said he returned home for personal reasons, with his availability for the rest of the series to be decided in due course.
Bumrah's replacement Harshit Rana rocked South Africa's top order with quick dismissals of Quinton de Kock and Dewald Brevis, shortly after Arshdeep used an lbw review to send Reeza Hendricks back for a duck.
Hardik Pandya picked his 100th T20 wicket with Tristan Stubbs' dismissal, while Varun Chakravarthy reached the 50-wicket mark in the format by knocking down pinch-hitter Donovan Ferreira's stumps.
Markram tried to fire back in the final overs with two sixes off Rana to reach his half-century. But he edged Arshdeep's delivery to keeper Jitesh Sharma in the next over.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav picked up the final two wickets and South Africa could only set a target of 118 for India.
COMFORTABLE RUN CHASE
In response, Abhishek unleashed his shots straightaway, smashing three fours and three sixes, before mistiming a length delivery from Corbin Bosch to get out for 35, with Markram taking a well-judged catch.
Following his dismissal, South African bowlers slowed down the play with tight bowling and Marco Jansen dismissed Gill for 28.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav struck two boundaries before getting out for 12, but Shivam Dube hammered Baartman in the next over for a six and a four off consecutive deliveries to overhaul the target and complete a comprehensive win for his side.
The two teams will play the fourth T20 on Wednesday in Lucknow.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)
