Watch cricket video highlights of India tour of South Africa 2024. Fourth Twenty/20 between South Africa and India. Venue of the match will be Johannesburg.
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Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson have tackled this Twenty20 International series against South Africa in such manner. To shatter the records and give India a sixth bilateral series victory in 2024, they each made a century in Durban and Centurion, respectively, before joining forces to strike two hundreds in the Johannesburg final. India recorded their second-highest T20I total (a month and three days after their highest, of 297 against Bangladesh) and the highest T20I total in South Africa, regardless of the venue.
They were the only team to claim four hundreds in a single series, the first Full Member team, and the third international team to have two individual hundreds in the same innings. Regarding South Africa, it would be best to keep things quiet. The iconic 438 moment, in which they entered the changing room to the sardonic remarks of one batsman (Jacques Kallis) that the bowlers had done their job and that the batsmen ought to do the same, was not repeated. They lost by 135 runs after being dismissed for 148, their largest loss in the format.
Since defeating Ireland in August 2022, South Africa has not won a bilateral T20I series in almost two years. How many terms can adequately characterize India’s batting style during the most of this series? However, we must make an effort. We may use words like “ludicrous,” “evocative,” and “unbelievable,” or we can just let the data speak for themselves. Following the powerplay, India was 73 for 1, 129 for 1 after 10 overs, 200 for 1 in the 15th over, and then hammered an additional 84 runs in the final six overs.
In the men’s T20Is, Samson and Tilak’s 210-run second-wicket partnership was the greatest for any wicket taken by India, and they spared no area of the field. With four of his nine runs coming in the V, Samson’s six-hitting was especially noteworthy. His wagon wheel was fairly even with 54 off-side runs to 55 leg-side, while the remaining four came on the on side. Tilak Varma’s preference was obvious. He scored 46 runs on the off side and 74 runs on the leg side, including eight of his ten sixes.
Ultimately, South Africa’s bowlers would not have cared about the direction. Everyone else went at an economy rate of 14 runs or more, with Marco Jansen being the only one to give up at less than 11 runs per over. And a word about the celebrations for the couple. Samson hardly made a fist, but he had everyone in the dugout showing off their biceps. Tilak then blew him an air kiss and gestured to his captain, Suryakumar Yadav, who would probably let him bat at number three for as long as he wanted.
South Africa also did themselves no favors by bowling a no-ball and giving up 12 runs off wides, in addition to their excessive dependence on the short ball, poor usage of the slower one, and occasional full toss. At SuperSport Park, they also bowled three no-balls and gave up 10 runs in wides, whereas India only bowled one wide. There could have been a problem with bowlers finding their lines at the Wanderers, as India let up six runs from wides. Gerald Coetzee was the greatest offender for South Africa, giving up five wide runs and leaving the field five overs into the game due to a hamstring injury.
Although he returned to bowl the fifteenth over, he was dismissed for twenty runs. Even though Andile Simelane’s first over, which cost 24, was the most costly over of the innings, it was still bruising. It was probably India’s expertise that discovered swing where South Africa could not, whether it was the lights or the clouds building overhead in anticipation of an evening downpour. Arshdeep Singh swung one on the following ball to flip the off bail into a spin after nearly instantly escaping movement from the right-handed Reeza Hendricks.
In a perilous foreshadowing of what was to come, he proceeded to defeat Aiden Markram with more beautiful away swing. Before Ryan Rickelton could resist, Hardik Pandya pushed the ball away from him once, twice, three times, and then four times at the other end. To leave South Africa 1 for 2, he reached for the fifth ball and gave Samson an edge. Although South Africa needed a little more than 50 balls to smash their first six, India’s 23 sixes were the most in an innings in a Twenty20 International between two Full Member teams, Suggesting that the conditions were favorable for big hitting. Tristan Stubbs took a half-tracker from Ramandeep Singh and hit it over deep midwicket.
After two balls, Stubbs blasted Ramandeep over deep square after moving across his stumps. David Miller hit two more sixes and sent the series’ top wicket-taker, Varun Chakravarthy, over cow corner in the following over, but South Africa’s comeback was too late. Miller found Tilak at long-on as Varun moved to the area surrounding the wicket and forced him to grab a ball from outside off. Marco Jansen’s 29-ball 12 was all that was needed to guarantee that South Africa finished with little more than half of India’s total after Stubbs was removed leg before wicket by Ravi Bishnoi off the following delivery.
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Johannesburg has a history of producing high scores. India scored 201 for 7 in December 2023, the last time it hosted a Twenty20 International, thanks to a century from Suryakumar Yadav. Kuldeep Yadav took five wickets as South Africa was bowled out for a meager 95 in response. Thirty minutes prior to the toss, at around 4 p.m. local time, rains are predicted. However, we should see a full game, and it is anticipated to be quick. India would be reluctant to make any adjustments after Ramandeep Singh proved his worth as a batsman in Centurion.
In place of Gerald Coetzee, South Africa should think about bringing back local legspinner Nqabayomzi Peter. Abhishek Sharma was under pressure going into the third Twenty20 International after failing to reach 20 in his previous seven T20I innings. He appeared to have just one gear and had occasionally looked out of his depth, particularly against the hard distances. His shot selection, however, was far superior in Centurion, as he laid the stage for a huge total with a 25-ball 50.
He would know that he cannot unwind after only one strong innings since Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are higher in the rankings than him. Marco Jansen has been South Africa’s player of the series since returning from a shoulder injury. Despite taking just three wickets, he had the greatest economy rate of any bowler in the series at 6.41. Jansen’s effort is much the more remarkable given that India scored 200-plus runs twice in three games. With 73 runs at a strike rate of 208.57, he is also South Africa’s top scorer.
His 16-ball half-century, the second-fastest for South Africa in the format, nearly made the chase in Centurion seem impossible. With 23 of its 25 T20I victories in 2024, India has had perhaps the best season as a side in this erratic and unpredictable format. They also fully embraced the format that year, abandoning their batsmanship-first strategy to play aggressive, contemporary T20 cricket. The outcomes could hardly have been more favorable. At home, they bleached Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and they even did the same to Sri Lanka.
Their backup team triumphed 4-1 in Zimbabwe in the interim. All of that, however, is nothing compared to their winning streak in the June T20 World Cup. Their final appearance in the format this year will be Friday’s T20I in Johannesburg. They will want to achieve yet another victory after taking an insurmountable 2-1 lead in the four-match series. South Africa was likewise undefeated in the T20 World Cup until they faced India in the Barbados final.
However, they have not performed well on either side of the competition. While it is true that they frequently lacked one or more of their top players, the same can be said about their rivals. South Africa’s winless record in the bilateral T20I series would remain at eight, even if they triumph on Friday. However, 2-2 is still far superior to 3-1.
