India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, faced Aiden Markram-led South Africa in the third T20I of the four-match series at SuperSport Park, Centurion, on Wednesday, November 13.
The Indian national cricket team, under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, won the third T20I by 11 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series. The next match between the two teams will be held at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday 15 November.
Also Read: Watch: Axar Patel pulls off a massive performance to dismiss David Miller in 3rd T20I
India wins thriller by 11 runs
India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, lost the toss and were invited to bat first in the match. They got off to a bad start as Sanju Samson got his second successive duck.
However, Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma ensured that Samson’s early dismissal did not damage India and started building the innings.
The duo were feisty in the middle and smashed bowlers all over the park. Tilak Varma scored an incredible century and Abhishek Sharma scored a brilliant fifty as India posted a huge total of 219 runs on the board.
Defending at full length, India continued to take wickets at regular intervals, but a batting masterclass from Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen completely shifted the momentum towards the Proteas. But in the end, Indian bowlers held their courage and led the team to a brilliant victory.
We played the brand of cricket we wanted to play – Suryakumar Yadav
In the post-match presentation, Suryakumar Yadav said he was happy to have executed his plan well and achieved victory. Suryakumar Yadav added:
“I’m very pleased. I’m glad we were able to execute in the game what we talked about in the team meeting today and yesterday. We played the brand of cricket we wanted to play.”
“That’s what we’ve told them to do. It’s similar to what they’ve done in net, for their franchise and for their state. Even if they fail in a few innings, they back up their intent and their game. You do it because of the aggression and intent. “I can tell you it’s not just talk.”
Suryakumar Yadav also praised the players for showing a lot of intent with the bat and making his job easier.
“If you go out there and take a single, that’s the intention. Seeing them bat like that made my job a lot easier and made me feel like we were going in the right direction. Everyone’s energy and intention, we’re going to have six or seven minutes. This was the first time it was ahead,” added Suryakumar Yadav.
Suryakumar Yadav further revealed the conversation he had with Tilak Varma after the second T20I. He said Varma had personally come to ask him if he could take the number three spot in the playing XI. Suryakumar Yadav also assured that the youngster will continue to bat from that position in the future.
“He (Tilak) came to my room in Gkeberha and asked me to give him a chance at number three. He said I wanted to do well and go out and express myself. He asked me to and I did it. He is very happy and his family. ” Suryakumar Yadav said.
India lost the second T20I despite a good fight.
Despite putting up a strong fight, Suryakumar Yadav-led India lost the second T20I by three wickets with just six balls remaining.
Batting first, India’s line-up struggled to gather momentum and were restricted to 124/6. Sanju Samson, a centurion in the previous two games, had a short stay as he was sent off for a mistake by Marco Jansen.
Abhishek Sharma (4/5) and Suryakumar Yadav (4/9) also got off to an early start, leaving India at 15/3. Tilak Varma showed some resistance with a knockout 20 runs off 20 balls while Axar Patel was run out in unfortunate fashion after adding a valuable 27 off 21 balls.
Hardik Pandya played a crucial role, scoring an unbeaten 39 off 45 balls, holding the innings together as wickets continued to fall at the other end. However, his decision to deny a strike to Arshdeep Singh on several occasions meant India had fewer runs on the board. Also, despite minor contributions from Rinku Singh (9/11) and Arshdeep Singh (7/6), India finished the match below 124.
But with the ball, India showed incredible spirit, especially through Varun Chakravarthy, who took an incredible five-wicket haul, conceding just 17 runs in four overs. Varun’s spell saw him dismissal of key players including Hendricks (24/21), Markram (3/8) and Miller (0/1) to keep India’s hopes alive. Ravi Bishnoi supported well, scoring 21 runs in 4 overs and adding 1 wicket. Arshdeep Singh also got involved, dismissing Rickelton (13 of 11) early.
Despite this, Tristan Stubbs (47* off 41) held his nerve along with Coetzee (19* off 9) to push the hosts over the line.
