Sanju Samson became the first Indian – and fourth overall – to hit back-to-back hundreds in T20Is as India’s seventh 200-plus total of the year earned them a 1-0 lead against South Africa in Durban. His 47-ball century – the fastest by an Indian against South Africa – was an exhibition of elite six-hitting as he carted 10 of India’s 13. It paved the way for India’s 202/8 in 20 overs, which South Africa fell short of by 61 runs.
Samson was early to gauge the bounce that the quicks got off the pitch and negated it by batting deep in his crease. Anything even fractionally short bowled at him was pulled for a six. When pacers – like Marco Jansen, attempted to course correct by going slightly fuller, he flicked them away with both ease and authority. Abhishek Sharma fell early, but Samson dragged India to 56/1 in the PowerPlay in the company of Suryakumar Yadav.
South Africa’s 22-year-old leggie Nqabayomzi Peter dished out two hit-me half-trackers to a raging Samson, who sent both soaring into the deep mid-wicket stands. As was the case in the game against Bangladesh in Hyderabad – where he got 111 (47) – Samson was devastating against spin (58 off 27 balls) in Durban.
Patrick Kruger was one pacer who attempted a different strategy – like bowling full and wide and trying slower ones, but he too was taken to the cleaners. But it was his knuckle ball that stopped Suryakumar in his tracks, who found the deep square leg fielder with his mistimed loft. Samson’s bat swing though, continued to flourish as he took the team to 100 in the 11th over, off Keshav Maharaj.
In the 13th – off debutant Andile Simelane – Samson lofted one over wide long off for his best-looking six of the evening. He kept his foot firmly on the pedal to keep scoring at over 200 as India set themselves up for another outrageous total even by T20 standards. At 162/2 in 14 overs, Aiden Markram was running out of ideas and bowlers to stop the carnage but the next 12 deliveries gave South Africa a small chance to claw back. First, Maharaj had Tilak Varma caught by Tristan Stubbs at deep mid-wicket, and then Samson found a deep fielder trying to hit his 11th six, in the 15th over. India’s middle and lower-order then failed to make the most of the launchpad provided to them as the visitors scored just 27 runs for the loss of four wickets in the last four overs to finish with 202/8.
South Africa’s chances of riding the late momentum provided by the bowlers were dented by the early dismissals of Aiden Markram – caught behind in the first over off Arshdeep Singh, and Tristan Stubbs – caught at mid-off in the fourth over by Avesh Khan. This immediately gave way for a Heinrich Klaasen vs Hardik Pandya tussle, which the latter won in the T20 World Cup final earlier this year. That turned out uneventful this time around but Suryakumar then squeezed South Africa with spin. In the final over of the PowerPlay, Varun CV brought instant dividends as Ryan Rickelton hit one to Tilak Varma at long on.
South Africa’s experienced T20 pair of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller looked to take charge in the middle-overs, punishing anything short from the Indian spinners. But both Varun and Ravi Bishnoi consistently bowled full and cramped the two free-spirited hitters for room, much to the vocal delight of Samson behind the stumps. Varun’s accuracy with lengths shone through in the 10th over, where he conceded just two runs to bump up South Africa’s asking rate to 12.50 for the second half of their chase. Bishnoi’s googly, which he resorts to more often than traditional leg spin, were tough to read, particularly for Miller, as he conceded just 1 run in the 11th over. The pressure that built up through those 12 balls earned Varun the wickets of both Klaasen and Miller, caught in the deep by Axar Patel and Avesh Khan respectively.
Bishnoi lured new batter Patrick Kruger with a ball tossed up outside offstump, and had him caught at point. He too followed up his tight over with a double-wicket one to reduce South Africa to 93/7 as Andile Simelane was trapped leg before. Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee threw their bats around to push past 100, but Bishnoi dismissed the former to pick his third of the game.
Coetzee kept up the tonking, going hell for leather against Hardik with two massive sixes in an over. But that entertainment was cut short by a direct hit from Suryakumar that caught the batter short off his crease. Avesh Khan then wrapped up the game in the 18th over by cleaning up Keshav Maharaj.
Brief Scores: India 202/8 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 107, Tilak Varma 33; Gerald Coetzee 3-37) beat South Africa 141 in 17.5 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 25; Varun CV 3-25, Ravi Bishnoi 3-28, Avesh Khan 2-28) by 61 runs

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