IND vs SA: Suryakumar's fourth century in T20, equals Rohit-Maxwell; India's D. Greatest victory over Africa

Posted on 15th Dec 2023 by rohit kumar

After man-of-the-match captain Suryakumar Yadav's century, with the help of Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav's brilliant spin, India defeated South Africa by 106 runs in the third and final T20 match and leveled the three-match series 1-1. The first match of the series was washed out due to rain while the second T20 was won by South Africa. This was India's last T20 match abroad before next year's T20 World Cup.

 

India registered the biggest win in terms of runs over South Africa. Earlier, Team India was defeated by 82 runs in Rajkot last year. Apart from this, India has not lost a T-20 series to South Africa since 2015-16. India last lost the three-match series 0-2 to South Africa in 2015-16.

 

Suryakumar equaled Rohit-Maxwell

Suryakumar equaled compatriot Rohit Sharma and Australia's Glenn Maxwell in scoring the most centuries in T-20 International. All three batsmen have four centuries each. Suryakumar scored 100 runs in 56 balls and hit seven fours and eight sixes. India scored 201 runs for seven wickets in 20 overs. Apart from Suryakumar, Yashasvi Jaiswal (60) scored his third half-century. Yashasvi and Suryakumar made a century partnership of 112 runs in 70 balls for the third wicket.

 

In reply, South Africa collapsed for 95 runs in 13.5 overs. On the day of his birthday, the batsmen of the host team could not understand Kuldeep's balls. David Miller (35) scored the most runs for South Africa. Apart from Kuldeep, Jadeja (2/25) also took wickets.

 

Half the team is in the pavilion on 75 runs.

While chasing the target, South African batsmen kept losing wickets continuously. Half of the South African team had returned to the pavilion with a score of 75 runs. At one end, David Miller kept scoring. However, Kuldeep did not allow the lower-order batsmen to survive. He dismissed Donovan (12), Maharaj (01), Berger (01), and Williams (00) while Miller bowled 35 to wrap up South Africa's innings. He took three wickets in the 14th over of the innings.

 

Earlier, South African captain Aiden Markram won the toss and decided to bowl first. South Africa made its debut for left-arm fast bowler Nandre Berger. Off-spinner Keshav Maharaj and all-rounder Donovan Ferreira were included. At the same time, India did not make any changes in its eleven.

 

Gill disappointed again

In the second T20, opening batsmen Shubhman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal could not even open their accounts. Gill was disappointed in the third match also and could not play a big innings. Gill started opening his hands by hitting fours on three balls from Burger, who was bowling the first over of the innings. In the next over, Jaiswal targeted Markram and hit two fours and a six in his over. Maharaj, who came to bowl the third over of the innings, trapped Gill (12) LBW and on the next ball, Tilak Verma (0) was caught out by Markram. On Yashasvi's insistence, Gill was not allowed to take a review because the ball had hit outside the pitch.

 

The early wicket fall did not affect Jaiswal and he continued playing in his aggressive style. While he hit a six off Williams, Suryakumar also hit a four off Maharaj's over, completing India's 50 runs in 4.2 overs. In the first six overs of the powerplay, India had scored 62 runs for two wickets. During this period, India had 87 runs for two wickets in 10 overs. Then Suryakumar continued to run the scoreboard by hitting a brilliant six on the off side of Maharaj. Meanwhile, Yashasvi completed his half-century in 34 balls by taking one run off Williams. India's 100 runs were completed in 11.2 overs.

 

Phehlukwayo hit 3 sixes and a four in the over.

Suryakumar hit a six and a four in the first over of Phehlukwayo. Then he scored a half-century in 32 balls with a six. Phehlukwayo bowled a slow leg cutter to trap Suryakumar on the fifth ball but the Indian captain hit a long six down the leg side. India added 23 runs in this over. Suryakumar hit three sixes and one four in this over. In the next over, Yashasvi got caught by Riza on Shamsi's ball while attempting a six.

 

Surya scored a century in 55 balls

Williams, who was bowling the last over of the innings, completed his century in 55 balls by taking two runs on the first ball. Then he was caught out on the next ball. After this, Jadeja was run out and Jitesh Sharma was hit wicket. India lost 4 wickets in the last two overs.

 

Also Read: IPL 2024: The one whom LSG did not consider capable, created chaos by taking 8 wickets alone and filled the batsmen with fear!