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India’s left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav celebrated his birthday by taking a fifer to help India beat South Africa by a massive margin of 106 runs in the third T20I to level the series 1-1. Kuldeep registered the best bowling figures for a spinner against South Africa in T20Is to bowl them out for 95 after Suryakumar Yadav equalled the record for most T20I centuries.
Earlier, South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bowl first. In the third over, Keshav Maharaj struck twice to dismiss opener Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma. Yashasvi Jaiswal did the bulk of scoring during his partnership with Suryakumar as the latter played second fiddle. Jaiswal scored 60 runs from 41 balls including six fours and three sixes before getting dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi.
Suryakumar accelerated in the middle overs and reached his half-century from 32 balls with a six. Suryakumar continued to hit big while Rinku Singh failed to contribute with a cameo. In the final over, he reached his century from just 55 balls. He equalled Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell's record of most T20I centuries. He got out the next ball. His 56-ball 100 featured seven fours and eight sixes. As Ravindra Jadeja and Jitesh Sharma lost their wickets off consecutive deliveries, India could not finish on a high and posted 201/7 on the board.
Mohammed Siraj pushed South Africa on the back foot as he started with a maiden over to Reeza Hendricks. In the second over, Matthew Breetzke dragged the ball onto his stumps. Markram started positive with a six followed by a four. In the fourth over, Hendricks was run out trying to sneak a quick single against Siraj at mid-on. Markram tried to take on the pacers in the powerplay overs and succeeded. In the sixth over, Heinrich Klaasen took the aerial route and got caught by Rinku. As the fielding restrictions were lifted, Jadeja got the wicket of Markram's first ball. He scored 25 runs from 14 balls.
From 42/4 it only got worse for the hosts. David Miller hit Jadeja for a couple of sixes in the final over. Donovan Ferreira hit Kuldeep for a six and the next ball got bowled as the ball kept low. South Africa lost half their side in 10 overs for a score of 75. Jadeja dismissed Andile Phehlukwayo in his third over for a three-ball duck. Kuldeep in his second over dismissed Maharaj. In his third over, Kuldeep struck thrice to bowl out South Africa for 95. Miller was the top-scorer with 25 runs from 25 balls featuring two fours and as many sixes. This was South Africa's third-lowest total in the format. Kuldeep registered the second-best bowling figures against South Africa in T20Is.
