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Team India toiled hard to eke out an 11-run win over South Africa in the third T20I at SuperSport Park in Centurion on November 13. This win has given India, who bounced back from Gqeberha defeat, an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
Tilak Varma's maiden century in India's win over South Africa in 3rd T20I
Tilak Varma was the star of the show, scoring a magnificent century to help India post a competitive total. His brilliant knock earned him the Player of the Match award. However, Marco Jansen's 17-ball 54 gave South Africa a glimmer of hope to only see them going down to India eventually. India set a new record total of 219 runs at SuperSport Park and successfully restricted South Africa to 208/7. Impressively, they also became the first team in five years to successfully defend a target in a T20I at this renowned venue.
India put on a dominant performance in the third T20I, posting a formidable total of 219 runs. Tilak Varma's unbeaten century, Abhishek Sharma's half-century (25-ball 50), and a quickfire knock from debutant Ramandeep Singh (15 off 6) were instrumental in setting the high score. Tilak also scripted history riding on his blistering 107 off 56 and became the youngest batter to score a T20I century against a top-10 team. At the tender age of 22 years and 5 days, he surpassed Pakistan's Ahmed Shehzad's previous record of 22 years and 127 days. Shehzad had achieved this feat in 2014 against Bangladesh.
South Africa, led by Aiden Markram, had the advantage of batting second, a strategy that had yielded success in the previous five T20Is at SuperSport Park, including their record-breaking chase of 259 runs in March 2023. However, India's bowlers, led by Arshdeep Singh, delivered a disciplined performance, restricting South Africa's powerful batting lineup and securing a thrilling 11-run victory.
Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen's lightning knocks in vain
Despite brilliant knocks from Heinrich Klaasen (41 off 22) and Marco Jansen (54 off 17), South Africa fell short by 11 runs. Jansen's explosive cameo, particularly his destructive over against Hardik Pandya, kept South Africa in the game until the final over. Jansen plundered 26 runs off Hardik's 19th over and it looked South Africa will take away the game. However, Arshdeep, who was tasked with defending 25 runs off the last over, held his nerves and sealed the match for India.
Arshdeep Singh (3/37) and Varun Chakrvarthy (2/54) were instrumental in India's successful defense of 219 runs. Their impressive performances set new records in T20I cricket.
The third T20I was a day of record-breaking performances for Indian bowlers. Arshdeep Singh surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to become India's leading fast bowler in terms of T20I wickets. He has now 91 T210 wickets under his belt, one past Bhuvneshwar. Varun Chakrvarthy, who claimed two crucial wickets, extended his tally to 10 wickets in the series, breaking R Ashwin's record for the most wickets in a bilateral T20I series for India. Meanwhile, the fourth and final T20I is scheduled to take place on November 15, Friday.
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