South Africa were no match for the young and rejuvenated Indian side in the fourth and final fixture of the T20I series. The Suryakuma Yadav-led side managed to win the series 3-1 after registering a 135-run victory on Friday (November 15) at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
The Indian team won the toss and opted to bat first. Opener Abhishek Sharma received a lucky reprieve in the first over in the slip cordon. From the second over, Sanju Samson gave a signal of him getting back his confidence by scoring a six and a four.
Thereafter, Samson took 14 runs off the fourth over to continue the team’s momentum. The following over saw Sharma employing aggressive intent to slam three sixes and a four. Although the southpaw was dismissed for 36 off 18 by Lutho Sipamla, he helped the visitors to garner 73 runs in the powerplay.
Tilak Varma came at No. 3 and maintained his supreme form. He joined hands with Samson to garner 19 runs off the ninth over, bowled by the veteran spinner Keshav Maharaj. The over set up the momentum, as the duo took out 21 runs off the following over of Tristan Stubbs.
Both players were in supreme confidence, as they managed to utilize the belter of a surface to their favor and clear the fences with ease. Varma (120* off 47) and Samson (109* off 56) slammed a total of 19 sixes during their unbeaten 210-run stand. As a result, the Men in Blue posted 283 on the board.
The total is now the second-highest score by India in T20Is, with the best being 297 scored against Bangladesh last month.
Arshdeep Singh’s opening burst seals the deal for India
In defense of their mammoth total, Arshdeep Singh looked confident of his skills and pitched the balls in area of uncertainties. He reaped fruits in only his third ball, as the left-arm pacer managed to induce in-swing from a length ball that took Reeza Hendricks’ (0) wicket.
Then, Hardik Pandya also utilized the movement off the surface to dismiss Ryan Rickelton (1). In his next over, Arshdeep’s delivery swung away from Aiden Markram (8), as he played a loose shot to only get holed out to Ravi Bishnoi. Heinrich Klaasen (0) was trapped LBW in a sensational delivery bowled by Arshdeep during the same over.
A;though, Tristan Stubbs (43) and David Miller (36) tried hard, the target was too much to achieve for the hosts. In the end, South Africa was bundled out for 148 and lost by 135 runs. Arshdeep picked three wickets, while Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel took two wickets each.
It was the biggest defeat for the Proteas in the shortest format. Previously, they were beaten by 111 runs by Australia in 2023.
