 "The Indian players celebrate with the trophy after completing a 3-1 T20I series victory over South Africa with a 135-run victory in Johannesburg on Friday. AP")
Reigning T20 world champions India ended their dominant run in the shortest format this year with a commanding 135-run victory against South Africa in Johannesburg on Friday, completing a 3-1 series victory in the ‘Rainbow Nation’ in the process.
Records tumbled at the Wanderers Stadium one after another as Tilak Varma (120 not out) and Sanju Samson (109 not out) smashed whirlwind centuries and shared a mammoth, unbroken partnership for the second wicket that was worth 210. Thanks to their contributions, the Men in Blue ended up finishing within touching distance of the 300-mark in a T20I for the second time in as many months, posting a massive 283/1 after opting to bat.
Opener Abhishek Sharma was the only Indian batter to get dismissed on Friday, getting caught-behind off Lutho Sipamla’s bowling in the penultimate ball of the powerplay to depart for 36 off 18 deliveries that included two fours and a four sixes. Varma and Samson later went on a six-hitting spree themselves, collecting 10 and 9 maximums respectively.
Samson had brought up a second consecutive century earlier in the series in Durban and Tilak joined him in the act on Friday, becoming the fifth batter to do so in Twenty20 Internationals. Their 210-run unbroken stand was also India’s highest for any wicket in T20Is as well the second-highest overall in the format.
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India were just as dominant with the ball later in the evening at the ‘Bullring’, bowling the South Africans out for a relatively modest 148 – little more than half of what Suryakumar Yadav and Co had managed. Arshdeep Singh (3/20) and Hardik Pandya (1/8) got plenty of movement early on in the chase to reduce the Proteas to 10/4 and the spin trio of Axar Patel (2/6), Varun Chakravarthy (2/42) and Ravi Bishnoi (1/28) were also among the wickets.
South Africa looked like they were going to get shot out for a score in the range of 50 when Tristan Stubbs (43 off 29 balls) and David Miller (36 off 27 balls) came to their rescue with an 86-run fifth-wicket partnership, ensuring the hosts crossed the 100-mark at the very least.
Marco Jansen shone with the bat once again, chipping in with an unbeaten 29 off 12 balls that included two fours and three sixes to ensure his team finished within touching distance of the 150-mark. The pace-bowling all-rounder had smashed a 16-ball fifty in the third T20I in Centurion to keep the Proteas’ alive in their chase of 220 till the final over, and once again highlighted his handy batting skillls on Friday.
Friday’s fixture in Jo’burg helped India conclude their their brilliant T20I run in 2024 on a winning note. They had begun the year with a 3-0 sweep of Afghanistan at home followed by their victory in the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean – with Rohit Sharma leading the Men in Blue on both occasions.
Shubman Gill then led a second-string Indian team to a 4-1 victory in Zimbabwe after the T20 World Cup triumph. Suryakumar Yadav was later named full-time T20I captain following Rohit’s retirement and he would begin his tenure with a 3-0 sweep in Sri Lanka followed by a similar result against Bangladesh at home before the 3-1 victory in South Africa.