Visakhapatnam, Jun 14 (IANS): Harshal Patel's impressive bowling (4/25) helped India (179/5) thrash South Africa by 48 runs in the third T20I and stay alive in the five-match series at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy stadium, here on Tuesday.

Quickfire fifties by Ruturaj Gaikwad (57 off 35) and Ishan Kishan (54 off 35) propelled India to 179/5 in 20 overs. Apart from Gaikwad and Kishan, Hardik Pandya (31 not out off 21) gave final flourish to Indian innings, after being invited to bat first.

On the other hand, Dwaine Pretorius (2/29) was most successful bowler for Proteas while Keshav Maharaj (1/24), Kagiso Rabada (1/31) and Tabraiz Shamsi (1/36) also chipped in with one wicket each.

In reply, four Proteas batters -- Reeza Hendricks (23), Dwaine Pretorius (20), Heinrich Klaasen (29), Wayne Parnell (22 not out) got starts but couldn't convert them to big innings.

Indian bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals and eventually bowled out South Africa for 131/10 in 19.1 overs, winning by 48 runs.

After Harshal, Yuzvendra Chahal (3/20) was India's most successful bowler while Axar Patel (1/28) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/21) also contributed well with the ball.

Brief scores: India 179/5 in 20 Overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 57, Ishan Kishan 54; Dwaine Pretorius 2/29) won to South Africa 131/10 in 19.1 Overs (Heinrich Klaasen 29, Reeza Hendricks 23; Harshal Patel 4/25) by 48 runs.