New Delhi: India put up an all-round performance to inflict a 135-run rout on South Africa in the fourth and final T20I in Johannesburg on Friday. With this win, India won 3-1 in their fourth consecutive game.
South Africa, chasing a mammoth 284-run target, were left unsettled as pacer Arshdeep Singh swung the ball both ways. He dismissed Reeza Hendricks in the first over and quickly followed up with the wickets of Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen.
Scorecard | As it happened
His stunning effort helped India reduce the hosts to 10/4 after just three overs, effectively ending the contest early.
South Africa’s only focus now was to save face, with David Miller and Tristan Stubbs leading the fightback. The pair put on 86 runs before Varun Chakravarthy struck and dismissed Miller.
Stubbs fell to Ravi Bishnoi in the very next ball and India ended their innings by bowling South Africa out in the 19th over. Marco Jansen showed his all-around ability with a few big hits, but it was too little, too late.
Earlier, Sanju Samson’s precision and Tilak VarmaIt was a combination of muscular elegance as India easily dismantled the South African bowling attack to post 283/1.
This total not only made India’s highest T20I score overseas, but also the highest of any team in South Africa.
Among the numerous records shattered, the stand-out achievement was the rare feat of two Indian batsmen scoring centuries in the same T20I innings. Samson and Varma also set a record for India’s best partnership in T20Is. 210 off just 93 balls for the second wicket.
Samson (109* from 56 balls), who had already reached a brilliant century in the first game, put the Proteas to the sword once again along with Varma (120* from 47 balls) who put in a tremendous performance at number three. With confidence and energy.
Samson has now scored three T20I centuries, including two ducks, in the last five innings, while Varma has scored back-to-back centuries.
While Samson reached his century off 51 balls, Varma took just 41 balls to set his tone. 10 fewer balls than his partner.
Abhishek Sharma (36 off 18 balls) also deserves credit for setting the tone of the Powerplay with four huge sixes.
On a flat track offering real bounce, the Indian batsmen hit 23 sixes at full speed. Samson’s maximum of 9 was just behind Varma’s 10.
