A much-needed and well-deserved win for India in the third and closing T20I helped the Men in Blue level the series towards South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday, December 14. Captain Suryakumar Yadav led the proceedings for India with a fourth T20I century whereas Kuldeep Yadav registered his second five-wicket haul in the format for India because the guests received the decider by 106 runs to level the three-match task 1-1 after the opener was washed out in Durban.
India misplaced two early wickets but once more in the powerplay earlier than Surya arrived to present firm to Yashasvi Jaiswal who was smashing it to all components. The duo ended the powerplay on a excessive and stored the momentum even after it. Jaiswal was the aggressor of the 2 whereas Surya struggled for a bit earlier than opening up with three sixes and a 4 in the thirteenth over to carry up his half-century off simply 32 balls.
Jaiswal who hit his third T20I fifty mistimed a lofted shot of Tabraiz Shamsi to get out on 60 and it was a one-man present from Surya thereon. Batters stored hitting and getting out on the different finish however Surya marched on to smash his fourth T20I century and level with Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell. India reached the 201-mark, which was rating however Johannesburg shouldn’t be a simple floor to defend and the bowlers had their work minimize out.
And they responded in type. Mohammed Siraj set the tone with a maiden over earlier than Mukesh Kumar acquired the wicket of Matthew Breetzke in the second over of the innings. Captain Aiden Markram got here with intent as soon as once more however Siraj’s rocket arm discovered Reeza Hendricks wanting his floor.
The wickets procession by no means stopped for South Africa as Heinrich Klaasen was the third batter to lose his wicket in the powerplay. If that wasn’t sufficient, stand-in skipper Ravindra Jadeja (Surya left the sector after twisting his ankle) dismissed Markram instantly after the powerplay.
Jadeja would have gotten his second instantly after had the umpire seen the sting of David Miller’s bat, which was clear in the replay however since DRS had malfunctioned, the Men in Blue could not ship it upstairs. After a bit, the procession started once more with Kuldeep Yadav taking his first as Donovan Ferreira was despatched again after he hit a six.
Jadeja acquired his second in the type of Andile Phehlukwayo earlier than the birthday boy Kuldeep cleaned up the tail and end with the wicket of Miller to help India bowl out the Proteas for simply 95.
This was his second five-wicket haul in T20Is and have become solely the second Indian bowler after Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take a number of five-wicket hauls for India. The focus will now shift to the ODIs with each groups set to lock horns in a three-match series. The series opener might be performed on the identical venue on Sunday, December 17.
