SA vs IND 2024/25, SA vs IND 3rd T20I Match Report, 13 November 2024

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India 219 for 6 (Tilak 107, Abhishek 50, Simelane 2-34) won South Africa 208 for 7 (Jansen 54, Arshdeep 3-37) for 11 runs

Tilak Varma became India’s second centurion in the space of six days and ensured that they would not lose the four-match T20I series. They lead 2-1, with the last match being played on Friday, and the hosts only have the option of a draw. South Africa have not won a T20I bilateral series since beating Ireland 2-0 in August 2021 and have lost five and drawn two series in that period.

At a time when the next major tournament is 15 months away, and with the knowledge that they have reached the final of this year’s T20 World Cup, that may not worry South Africa too much. But there will be questions about their depth and some of their strategies after they conceded big goals and stumbled in pursuit for the second time in this series.

South Africa’s seam strength without Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje is, as expected, inexperienced. He appeared in a mixed display at Supersport Park which included 10 wides and three no-balls. These numbers pale in comparison to those of Tilak, who, at 22 years and five days, became India’s second youngest centurion after Yashasvi Jaiswal, and needed just 51 balls to reach his hundred. He shared a 107-run second-wicket stand with Abhishek Sharma, and a 58-run fifth-wicket partnership with Rinku Singh, in which Tilak contributed 45. Although India were set for a total in excess of 240, after bringing up 100 by the ninth over, Tilak still made sure they had enough.

With an opening rate of 11 needed, South Africa fell behind early on. They needed around 12 runs per over at the end of the powerplay and as many as 17 runs per over in the last five. At that stage, they had their two biggest hitters, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller at the crease and their partnership reached 58 off 35 balls. In a haunting reminder of Suryakumar Yadav’s catch at the long boundary in the T20 World Cup final in June, Axar Patel timed his bounce at the mid-wicket boundary perfectly and Miller had to go.

Marco Jansen kept South Africa until the end and ensured the result flattered them. He scored his first T20I half-century and hit four fours and five sixes, three on the ground, to threaten a knock. But South Africa was left with a lot to do. Jansen was dismissed lbw for Arshdeep Singh with three balls left in the innings and 18 to hit. South Africa lost by 11 runs.

South Africa attacks early; India counterattack

Jansen got South Africa off to a perfect start when his second ball hit Sanju Samson. Samson’s make-or-break time continued, with his last four T20I scores being 111, 107, 0, 0, but India didn’t waste much time thinking about it. They promoted Tilak to third place with surprising results. He hit the second ball he faced at backward point for four and then hit Jansen at third for six. Abhishek, who was dismissed for single-digit scores at both coastal venues, quickly made amends when he made 14 runs in Gerald Coetzee’s opener and showed the full range of his repertoire.

Abhishek went past midwicket, over point and then through the covers. Coetzee was quickly replaced by Lutho Sipamla, who Tilak pulled back, and Jansen by Andile Simelane, who bore the brunt of Abhishek’s aggression. He hit consecutive sixes at opposite corners of the pitch and India were running away with the powerplay. They were 70 for 1 after six overs, and South Africa had still not brought in the spinners.

Maharaj and Simelane brake

India reached 100 in nine overs when Abhishek bowled Keshav Maharaj at long off but the spinner had the last laugh. Three balls later, he dragged Abhishek, who reached out to try and get it through the leg side but missed and was stumped. In the next shot, Simelane gave Suryakumar width and tried him to cut, but the Indian captain only managed to cut to the bottom. Maharaj’s second over cost him 10 runs but he was kept for a successful third. Hardik Pandya missed a sweep, was hit on the pack pad and lost lbw. India lost for 3 for 25 off 26 balls and South Africa pulled back.

But there’s no stopping Tilak

Maharaj is known for his ability to slow things down, but last time, Tilak had had enough. He used his crease well to make 4-6-4 over extra cover, deep square leg and deep mid-wicket and Maharaj finished with 36 from his four overs. That was the warning shot. Coetzee stuck in his next over, which also included three wides, with Tilak finding both long and short boundaries. Jansen bowled an unbounded 17th over and Rinku was bowled by a Simelane yorker in the 18th over. But by then Tilak was unstoppable. He added to his hundred when he smoked Sipamla midway for his seventh four. Tilak hit another four to add to his seven sixes and finished unbeaten on 107.

Flying ants stop playing

We had bees at Wanderers, but this is, in this amateur historian’s opinion, the first time flying ants stopped playing. What, you may ask? Maybe you call them Patingas or Parwana or Eeyal or Eesal but you probably know these. They arrive before the rain, are attracted to light and lose their wings when they land, and there were so many of them at SuperSport Park that referees feared they would fly into the players’ eyes. Players were evacuated after South Africa’s chase ended and a lamppost at SuperSport Park was switched off in the hope that the flying ants would go elsewhere. After 28 minutes, the game could resume, without loss of overs. They say it’s wild in Africa, and so it was.

Varun the winner

Forget everything that history says about spinners fighting in the Highveld and just look at Varun Chakravarthy. He entered this match as the leading wicket-taker of the series (with double the number of wickets of his nearest rival) and added another to his name with his most unplayable delivery. South Africa had no idea about their googly and Reeza Hendricks finished for the second time. He rushed Varun, fought violently, missed and was perplexed. South Africa finished the powerplay at 55-2.

South Africa may have thought they had the better of Varun when Aiden Markram hit him two sixes over in his third over, but it was the case otherwise. Markram should have hit the last ball over deep mid-wicket but he hit it straight to debutant Ramandeep Singh and prolonged a miserable run for himself. He has gone 27 innings without a T20I fifty and has not gone beyond 30 in his last 12 innings. Klaasen was the only player who got bragging rights after hitting Varun for three consecutive sixes, including the highest of the match from 109 meters, at a cost of over 23. Varun finished with his costliest T20I analysis but made two crucial breakthroughs. and in the end, that’s all that matters. South Africa needed 86 from the last five overs and it was a bridge too far.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa and women’s cricket correspondent

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