India take unassailable 2-1 T20I series lead after unforgettable Centurion thriller

Visitors India have taken an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match T20I series against the hosts South Africa after winning the thrilling third T20I by 11 runs at Centurion. 

After South Africa sent the visitors to bat first, India scored their second-highest T20I total against South Africa, 219/6 (20 overs). In reply, the hosts fought till the end but were restricted to 208/7 in 20 overs. 

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Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma produced good start

Although the opener Sanju Samson was out for another duck, another opener Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma handled the powerplay strongly. At the end of the powerplay, India scored 70/1. 

After Sharma was out for 50 off 25 balls (eight fours and seven sixes), Varma dominated over the South African bowlers. Although Suryakumar Yadav (1) and Hardik Pandya (18) were dismissed cheaply, Varma replied strongly from the other end. He also had a 58-run partnership with Rinku Singh for the fifth wicket before Singh was out for eight runs. 

Tilak Varma scored a century

The 22-year-old Varma completed his century in 51 balls and scored 107 not out off 56 balls with the help of eight fours and seven sixes. Despite very limited time, debutant Ramandeep Singh impressed with his 15 off six balls. 

Top-order South African batters failed to challenge strongly

In reply, the South African openers, Ryan Rickelton and Reeza Hendricks, provided a 27-run partnership for the first wicket before Arshdeep Singh bowled Rickelton for 20 runs off 15 balls (two fours and one six). 

Varun Chakravarthy got a wicket in his first over by dismissing the dangerous-looking Hendricks as he was stumped for 21 off 13 balls with four fours. South Africa ended the powerplay at 55/2. 

Last match hero Tristan Stubbs scored 12 runs, while the skipper Aiden Markram was out by Varun after scoring 29 runs. 

Klaasen kept the last hope before Jansen's stunner 

Although Proteas batters got some starts, most couldn’t manage to dominate the Indian bowlers. Wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen was once dominating alone, while he was dropped by the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav.

When David Miller was out for run-a-ball 18 runs, the hosts were struggling at 142/5 in 15.5 overs. 

In the 18th over, Arshdeep dismissed Klaasen for 41 runs off 22 balls with the help of one four and four sixes. Despite that wicket fall, South Africa was still in the game thanks to Marco Jansen’s incredible strikes. 

In the 19th over, Jansen scored 26 runs against Hardik Pandya, where the Proteas batter hit three fours and two sixes along with one double run.  

In the final over, while South Africa required 25 runs, Jansen hit an over-boundary to Arshdeep, but the left-arm Indian pacer won the battle. After dismissing Jansen for 54 off just 17 balls (four fours and five sixes), Arshdeep conceded only one four.

Among the Indian bowlers, Arshdeep took three wickets (4-0-37-3) and Varun Chakravarthy got two wickets (4-0-54-2). Also, Hardik Pandya (4-0-50-1) and Axar Patel (4-0-29-1) shared one wicket each, and Ravi Bishnoi was outstanding despite finishing without any wicket (4-0-33-0).