SA vs IND, 3rd T20I: Tilak Varma’s maiden T20I hundred and Arshdeep’s 3-37 help India take 2-1 lead in four-match series.
Brief Scores: India 216/6 (Tilak Varma 107*, Abhishek Sharma 50, Andile Simelane 2/34) beat South Africa 208/7 (Marco Jansen 54, Heinrich Klaasen 41, Arshdeep Singh 3/37) by 11 runs.
India registered an 11-run win in the high-scoring third T20I against South Africa to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series. Tilak Varma scored his maiden T20I century as India posted a mammoth total of 219 at SuperSport Park, Centurion. Earlier, India made one change in the squad, with Ramandeep Singh making his debut and Avesh Khan sitting out.
Talking Point: This batting lineup gives India a lot of flexibility
India added Ramandeep Singh for Avesh Khan, the extra batter from the previous game, making this batting order appear menacing up to 8th position. India made this strategic decision to bolster their batting lineup. This move aimed to provide more stability and firepower in the middle overs. With more capable hands to rely on, India’s resilience in crucial moments is significantly strengthened.
In this setup, India has five main bowlers, with Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, and Ramandeep serving as part-time bowlers. Since India only used five bowlers today, all of India would need the contributions of these part-timers in important matches.
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Tilak Varma’s maiden ton powers India to 219/6
South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first in Centurion. India lost Sanju Samson on the second ball of the innings, but Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma stitched a solid 107-run partnership to put India in a commanding position. Abhishek scored 50 off 25 balls before falling in the 10th over to Keshav Maharaj. India then lost two quick wickets to see South Africa make a comeback into the game. While the other Indian batters failed to fire, Tilak stood strong and scored his maiden hundred in just 51 balls. He remained not out on 107 off 56 balls, guiding India to 219/6 in 20 overs. Andile Simelane and Keshav Maharaj were the hosts’ pick of bowlers, each with two wickets.
India survives a late scare by Marco Jansen’s half-century
India survived a late scare by Marco Jansen, who scored a blistering 54 runs off just 17 balls. Jansen smashed a whopping 26 runs in the 19th over bowled by Hardik Pandya. As the chase began, an unexpected stop occurred due to too many insects on the field. After the play resumed, South Africa lost Ryan Rickelton and Reeza Hendricks inside the powerplay, but their team got over 50 runs from the first six. Heinrich Klaasen quickly knocked out 41 runs before getting dismissed by Arshdeep Singh. Varun Chakravarthy was among the wickets again, picking a couple before Klaasen talked him all over the park in the 14th over. Arshdeep bowled the last over brilliantly with the wicket of Jansen, who looked very dangerous. He finished with the figures of 3/37 in his 4-over spell.
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Statistical Highlights from SA vs IND, 3rd T20I, Centurion
- Sanju Samson now has India’s third-most ducks (6) in T20Is. Rohit Sharma, with 12, has the most, followed by Virat Kohli (7).
- Abhishek Sharma registered India’s second-fastest fifty (off 24 balls) against SA in T20Is. The fastest one was scored by Suryakumar Yadav in 18 balls in Guwahati in 2022.
- The second wicket partnership of 107 runs between Abhishek & Tilak is the second-fastest century stand (RR of 12.84) for this wicket for India in T20Is.
- Tilak Varma scored his first T20I hundred.
- India registered their second-highest team total against SA in T20Is.
- Tilak Varma (22y 5d) is the youngest centurion in T20Is in a match involving two full-member nations of ICC.
- Varun Chakravarthy now has the most wickets (10) for India in athree3 or more T20I bilateral series.
- Arshdeep Singh has the second-most number of wickets in T20Is for India (92).
- Marco Jansen has scored the second-fastest fifty (off 16 balls) in T20Is for SA.
What’s next
The two teams will meet on 15 November at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, for the fourth and final T20I of the series. While India will look to win the series with another victory, the hosts, SA, will be determined to level the series.
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