This win is India’s 11th consecutive T20 victory, and the team’s confidence is at an all-time high.
Sanju Samson’s bat roared
Earlier, the host team’s decision to bowl first proved costly. Samson smashed all the bowlers, scoring 107 runs in just 50 balls. He hit 10 sixes and seven fours, adding 88 runs in boundaries. This is the fastest T20 century by an Indian against South Africa. Samson also equalled Rohit Sharma’s record of hitting the most sixes in an international T20 match. Rohit achieved this feat against Sri Lanka on December 22, 2017, in Indore, where he hit 10 sixes in his innings of 118 runs. In the fourth over, Abhishek Sharma (7) was caught out at mid-off by Gerald Coetzee, after which Samson added 66 runs for the second wicket with captain Suryakumar Yadav (21). Yadav was caught out by Patrick Kruger off Andile Simelan’s hands. Tilak Verma (33) also hit two sixes and three fours in his 18-ball innings. He was dismissed in the 15th over, with India’s score at 167. In the next over, Samson was dismissed for 175, getting caught by Tristan Stubbs at deep mid-wicket. He was trying to sweep a delivery from Keshav Maharaj.
After that, the Indian batsmen couldn’t do much. Rinku Singh scored 11, and Axar Patel scored seven runs. Arshdeep Singh remained unbeaten on five runs. South Africa needed 203 runs to win, with Coetzee taking three wickets for the hosts.
