New Delhi: Tilak Varma smashed his maiden T20I century while Arshdeep Singh became the highest wicket-taking pacer for the Men in Blue in the shortest format as they managed a narrow 11-run victory over South Africa in the third T20I at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Chasing 220, the Proteas came very close in what proved to a tight contest but at the end, India snatched a win from their jaws to come out victorious.
The Men in Blue now lead the four-match series 2-1, with the final contest scheduled to take on November 15, Friday. Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen did some late fireworks for the hosts with blazing knocks of 41 and 54 respectively but Arshdeep was instrumental in removing both the deadly players at the right time to help his team cross the finish line, restricting the Proteas to 208/7 in 20 overs.
While Klaasen got to his knock in 22 balls, Jansen was absolutely lethal with the bat as he scored his half-century in just 17 deliveries. For India, Arshdeep, who surpassed Bhuvneshwar Kumar to become India’s leading wicket-taking pacer in T20Is with 92 wickets, claimed three wickets while Varun Chakaravarthy also bowled a good spell clinching two wickets. Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel took a wicket apiece.
Tilak’s century powers India to massive total
Earlier, Tilak produced a brilliant knock as he smashed an unbeaten 107-run knock, stitching a 107-run stand for the second wicket with Abhishek Sharma, who slammed a fiery fifty after the visitors lost the wicket of opener Sanju Samson (0) on the second ball of the first over. The duo together build a strong platform for the visiting side to amass a mammoth total.
At 22, Tilak Varma also became the second-youngest Indian batter to smash a century in T20Is in the overall list while the youngest Indian batter to do so against the Proteas. His charge also masked the failure for skipper Suryakumar Yadav (1), Hardik Pandya (18) and Rinku Singh (8) who could not do much with the bat. Debutant Ramandeep Singh scored a quickfire 15 off just 6 deliveries to push India’s score. For the Proteas, Keshav Maharaj picked 2/36 while Andile Simelane took 2/34.
South Africa vs India, 3rd T20I: Tilak Varma and Arshdeep Singh shined as India managed a narrow 11-run victory over the Proteas in a last-over thriller to lead the 4-match series 2-1. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
