Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma's tons help India post mammoth 283/1 against South Africa as records tumble at Wanderers

Records tumbled at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Friday as Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma slammed centuries and shared a mammoth, unbroken second wicket partnership to help India post 283/1 after opting to bat.

Varma and Samson remained unbeaten on 120 and 109 respectively and stitched together an unbroken stand worth 210 for the second wicket to nearly help the Men in Blue finish within touching distance of the 300-run mark for the second time in as many months. Both Varma and Samson brought up their second centuries in the tour of South Africa.

Samson completed his century in 51 deliveries in the 18th over with a single off pacer Gerald Coetzee. It was the third ton for the Rajasthan Royals captain in five outings, with Samson having smashed 107 in Durban after his knock of 111 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad – which had helped India post 297/6.

The Kerala batter would then get dismissed for a duck in Gqeberha and Centurion , getting castled by Marco Jansen on both occasions, before roaring back to form on Friday.

Varma would then bring up a second consecutive century at the start of the following over by collecting a double off Lutho Sipamla’s bowling. The Mumbai Indians batter had smashed an unbeaten 107 in Centurion , his maiden international hundred, on Wednesday and followed it up with 41-ball hundred at the ‘Bullring’ – 10 balls fewer compared to his partner for the second wicket.

Sipamla was the only member of the Proteas attack to collect a wicket on Friday, getting rid of opener Abhishek Sharma in the penultimate delivery of the powerplay as the southpaw got a faint nick after charging down the track looking to smash the ball square on the off side, departing after collecting 36 runs in 18 deliveries.

Sipamla finished with figures of 1/58 after bowling his full quota of overs while left-arm quick Jansen was the most economical of the Proteas bowlers, conceding 42 runs from four overs at an economy slightly more than 10. Andile Simelane leaked 47 runs in three overs while part-time off-spinner Tristan Stubbs bled 21 runs in his only over of the evening.

A total of 40 boundaries were scored in the Indian innings after skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss for the first time in four matches and promptly chose to bat. That includes 23 sixes – the most in a T20I match between two Full Member nations. India’s total of 283/1 is also the second-highest total in a T20I between Full Members.