India 283 for 1 (Tilak 120*, Samson 109*, Abhishek 36) beat South Africa 148 (Stubbs 43, Miller 36, Arshdeep 3-20, Axar 2-6, Varun 2-42) by 135 runs
Bat like nobody’s business.
That’s how Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma have approached this T20I series against South Africa. They scored a century each in Durban and Centurion respectively and then combined to hit a pair of hundreds in the finale in Johannesburg to rip up the record books and give India a fifth bilateral series win in 2024.
India posted the highest T20I total in South Africa, never mind the venue, and their second-highest in T20Is (a month and three days after their highest, of 297 against Bangladesh). They became the first Full Member side and third international team to have two individual hundreds in the same innings, and the only team to boast four centuries in the same series.
As for South Africa, perhaps the less said, the better. There was no repeat of the famous 438 moment when they went to the change room to the dry humour of one batter (Jacques Kallis) joking that the bowlers had done their job and the batters should follow suit. They were dismissed for 148 and slumped to their biggest defeat in the format by runs, losing by 135. South Africa have not won a bilateral T20I series in more than two years since beating Ireland in August 2022.
Runs, runs, runs
How many different words are there to describe the way that India have batted in most of this series?! But it’s our job to try. We can come up with outrageous, expressive, unbelievable, or we could just let the numbers do the talking. India were 73 for 1 after the powerplay, 129 for 1 after 10 overs, 200 for 1 in the 15th over, and smashed 84 more runs in the last six overs. The 210-run second-wicket stand between Samson and Tilak was the highest for any wicket by India in men’s T20Is and they did not spare any part of the ground. Samson’s six-hitting was particularly impressive in the V, which accounted for four in his total of nine. The other four came on the on side but his wagon wheel was pretty even with 54 off-side runs to 55 leg-side.
Tilak Varma had a clear preference. He hit 74 runs on the leg side, including eight of his 10 sixes, and 46 on the off side. In the end, the direction would not have mattered to South Africa’s bowlers. Only Marco Jansen conceded at less than 11 runs an over and everyone else went at an economy rate of 14 or more. And a word for the pair’s celebrations. While Samson hardly raised a fist, he had the dugout all flexing their biceps, and Tilak pointed to his captain Suryakumar Yadav – who is likely to allow him to bat at No.3 for as long as he wants – and blew him an air-kiss.
Concern over South Africa’s disciplines
In between the over-reliance on the short ball, ineffective use of the slower one, and the odd full toss, South Africa also did themselves no favours by conceding 12 runs off wides and bowling a no-ball. That’s after they also conceded ten runs in wides and bowled three no-balls at SuperSport Park, where India only bowled one wide. At the Wanderers, India conceded six runs off wides, so there may have been some issue with bowlers finding their lines. South Africa’s biggest culprit was Gerald Coetzee, who conceded five wide runs, and left the field with a hamstring concern five overs into the match. He retuned to bowl the 15th over but was taken for 20 runs. It was not the most expensive over of the innings – Andile Simelane’s first over, which cost 24, was – but it was bruising nonetheless.
Swing when you’re winning
It may have been the lights, or the gathering overhead cloud in preparation of an evening thunderstorm, but it was more likely India’s skill that found swing where South Africa could not. Arshdeep Singh almost immediately got away movement from the right-handed Reeza Hendricks and swerved one in the next ball to flick the off bail into a spin.
He went on to beat Aiden Markram with more exquisite away-swing in a dangerous warning of what was to come. At the other end, Hardik Pandya moved the ball away from Ryan Rickelton once, twice, three and then four times before Rickelton could not resist. He reached for the fifth ball and got an edge to Samson to leave South Africa 1 for 2.
South Africa finally find a six, but it’s far too little
India’s 23 sixes were the most in an innings in a T20I between two Full Member sides, which suggested conditions were suited for big hitting, but it took South Africa a touch over 50 balls to strike their first six. Ramandeep Singh bowled a half-tracker to Tristan Stubbs, and he dispatched it over deep midwicket. Two balls later, Stubbs moved across his stumps and hit Ramandeep over deep square.
In the next over David Miller sent Varun Chakravarthy, the series’ highest wicket-taker, over cow corner before smashing two more sixes, but South Africa’s surge came too late. Varun shifted to around the wicket and made Miller fetch a ball from outside off and he found Tilak at long-on. Stubbs was dismissed lbw by Ravi Bishnoi off the next ball and all Marco Jansen’s 29-ball 12 could do was ensure South Africa finished with a bit more than half of India’s total.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket
