15 Dec SURYAKUMAR AND KULDEEP HELP INDIA EARN SHARE OF SERIES
JOHANNESBURG: The Proteas had to settle for a share of the KFC T20 International (T20I) Series after India levelled three-match sequence 1-1 with a clinical 106-run win in match three at DP World Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Victory for the tourists was set up by two performances – a flying century first by captain Suryakumar Yadav (100 off 56 balls, 7 fours, 8 sixes) and a career-best five for 17 from Kuldeep Yadav.
The hosts won the toss and bowled first but conceded 201 for seven, before slipping to 95 all out in 13.5 overs.
It means the series ended level after match one was rained out in Durban and the second game won by the South Africans in Gqeberha on Tuesday.
The two sides will now shift focus to a three-match Betway One-Day International Series starting on Sunday.
The home side, though, will be disappointed they did not do more to challenge India at the Bullring.
Only Suryakumar’s fourth T20I ton and Yashasvi Jaiswal (60 off 41 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes) hurt them, with all the other touring batters struggling.
Keshav Maharaj (2/26) ended as the pick of the bowlers, while debutant seamer Nandre Burger collected one for 39.
Mohammed Siraj, one of India’s recent World Cup stars, was excellent with the new ball conceding just 13 in three overs to strangle the home batters, with the other bowlers all benefitting.
Matthew Breetzke (4) was bowled by Mukesh Kumar (1/21) in the second over, before Reeza Hendricks (8) was run-out by Siraj.
Heinrich Klaasen (5) was next to go to Arshdeep Singh (1/13) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/25) kept up the pressure with his double strike.
One of his wickets was the SA captain Aiden Markram, who managed 25, but the rapid fall of wickets saw the hosts sink to 42 for four by the seventh over.
Top-scorer David Miller (35) did his best to counter but it was then the Kuldeep show as the Proteas were shot out with more than seven overs to spare.
Proteas T20I squad against India
Aiden Markram (captain, Momentum Multiply Titans), Ottniel Baartman (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Matthew Breetzke (Dafabet Warriors), Nandre Burger (Western Province), Gerald Coetzee (Momentum Multiply Titans, 1st and 2ndT20Is), Donovan Ferreira (Momentum Multiply Titans), Beuran Hendricks (Western Province), Reeza Hendricks (DP World Lions), Marco Jansen (Dafabet Warriors, 1st and 2nd T20Is), Heinrich Klaasen (Momentum Multiply Titans), Keshav Maharaj (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), David Miller (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Andile Phehlukwayo (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Tabraiz Shamsi (Momentum Multiply Titans), Tristan Stubbs (Dafabet Warriors), and Lizaad Williams (Momentum Multiply Titans).
South Africa KFC T20I Series against India
Sunday, 10 December
South Africa vs India – Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium, Durban
Match abandoned
Tuesday, 12 December
South Africa beat India by 5 wickets – Dafabet St George’s Park, Gqeberha
Thursday, 14 December
South Africa lost to India by 106 runs – DP World Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
ENDS
Issued by: Cricket South Africa – Corporate Communications
ABOUT CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA
Cricket South Africa (CSA), an affiliate of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), is the national governing body for the sport of cricket in South Africa and administers all aspects of South African cricket, men, and women, both in the professional and amateur spheres.