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India beat South Africa by 106 runs
India beat South Africa in the third T20I at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg on Thursday. The Proteas won the toss and elected to field first in the third and final T20I. They made three changes to their side with Marco Jensen, Gerald Coetzee, and Tristian Stubbs making way for Donovan Ferreira, Nandre Burger, and Keshav Maharaj. The Men in Blue were playing with the same squad. Opener Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave them a fiery start but the former was the first to be sent back to the dugout by Mahara, he picked the wicket on the very next ball as well sending back Tilak Varma on a first-ball duck.
Jaiswal and skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not stop playing their strokes and kept the momentum going, they stitched a partnership of 112 runs for the third wicket. The former scored a half-century in the process and the skipper scored his fourth hundred in T20I cricket and again proved why he is the No.1 batter in the shortest format of the game.
The 2007 T20 World Cup winner struggled at the death as they lost their wickets for just five runs and could only score 201/7. Maharaj was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts picking up two wickets at an economy of 6.50.
Suryakumar Yadav shines big
Gill and Jaiswal started brilliantly as the Men in Blue were firing all guns. The former got the start but could not convert as he was back in the pavilion after scoring 8 runs. The latter and SKY built the partnership but never let the run rate fall below and scored quickly. The 21-year-old opener scored 60 off just 41 deliveries smashing 6 fours and 3 sixes. SKY made history as he became the first batter to score a hundred in four different countries. He scored the hundred in just 55 balls and was out the very next ball. Rinku Singh's small cameo of 14 runs made sure they scored past 200 runs.
In reply, the hosts were never in the game, as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. The two spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav picked seven wickets among them. The latter picked 5 wickets with three of them coming in just 4 balls. David Miller was the highest run scorer with 35 runs and except for him no other batter could cross 30 runs margin and the series was tied 1-1, as they were bundled out for 95 runs.
Here's how fans reacted:
Superb
— Amit Shah (Parody) (@Motabhai012) December 14, 2023
STAR OF INDIAN CRICKET 🔥
— Shivaye 🔱 (@shivaye01) December 14, 2023
SURYA AND KULDEEP 🔥🔥
India is unbeatable 👏👏
— Blue Sapphire (@Bluesap26) December 14, 2023
Only if India were as lethal in ICC knockout games as we are in bilateral series deciders 🥹
— Prantik (@Pran__07) December 14, 2023
Another five wicket haul for Kuldeep Yadav
— ANANT 🇮🇳 (@Akk_vk18) December 14, 2023
Congratulations team India
— Muhammad Ishaq Khan (@ishaq_Mindset) December 14, 2023
Birthday boy and t20 specialist ❤️
— HAFEEZ KHAN (@HAFEEZK51158740) December 14, 2023
SKY and Kuldeep both performed really well, congratulations 🎉🎉🎉
— Ahmed Pirzada (@joinpirzada) December 14, 2023