South Africa beat India by 49 runs in the third and final Twenty20 match on the back of Rilee Rossouw's maiden T20I century to record a consolation victory in Indore on Tuesday.
The hosts won the series 2-1.
On a batting wicket in a small ground, Rossouw put India's bowlers to the sword, clearing the ropes eight times and smashing seven fours to notch up his century in 48 balls.
Rossouw was supported by opener Quinton de Kock (68 off 43) while David Miller came in with four balls left in the innings to smash three sixes, guiding the tourists to a competitive total of 227.
In reply, India, who had rested Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, were reeling at 4-2 after losing skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer by the second over.
Dinesh Karthik (46) and Rishabh Pant (27) got quick starts but fell playing risky shots in the run-chase while the in-form Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed when Tristan Stubbs pouched a superb diving catch near the boundary.
His wicket took the wind out of India's sails and although the tail wagged a bit with Deepak Chahar (31) and Umesh Yadav (20 not out) attempting to go after the bowling, they were all out for 178 in the penultimate over.
The two teams will next play a three-match one-day international series from Thursday but India will field a second-string lineup with the T20 squad flying to Australia for the World Cup later this month.