Suryakumar’s sparkling ton helps India register 201/7 against SA

JOHANNESBURG: Captain Suryakumar Yadav exploited a bone-dry surface to make a twinkling hundred as India made a competitive 201/7 against South Africa in the third and final T20I on Thursday.

Trailing 0-1 in the series, India perforce needed a win, and they showed all that necessary intensity after South Africa asked them to bat first.

Suryakumar (100 off 56 balls), who made his fourth T20I century, and young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (60 off 41 balls) trusted the bounce on the Wanderers pitch to produce some sparkling shots around the ground, while adding 112 runs for an entertaining third-wicket alliance.

India were quick off the block with Shubman Gill (8) and Jaiswal adding 29 runs in just 2.2 overs. But South Africa hit back through left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj.

Maharaj took two wickets in as many balls to get rid of Gill and Tilak Varma as India’s momentum was curtailed momentarily.

Jaiswal and Suryakumar took India to 62 for 2 in the power play passage, and it followed another period of lull as they added just 25 runs in the next four overs as the visitors reached 87 for two at the half-way mark.

But they broke the barn door soon and runs began to flow in a rush.

Suryakumar, who gave all the space to his junior partner in the early part of the partnership, soon took over the role of chief aggressor once the tenth over mark passed.

He pulled those ‘360’ shots out of the shelf to punish the SA bowlers who did not have much variety to tame Suryakumar on a benign pitch.

Pacer Andile Phehlukwayo bore the brunt of Suryakumar’s awesome skill sets in this format.

Jaiswal too had his own little moments like a magical pull off pacer Lizaad Williams that gave him six runs over mid-wicket.

But the left-hander’s effort to clear long-off off left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi ended in the hands of Reeza Hendricks.

However, there was no stopping of Suryakumar, who continued to cart the Proteas bowlers around. The 33-year-old soon fetched a well-deserved hundred in a surprisingly sedate manner -- with a double off Williams -- off 55 balls.

He could not last till the end, giving a catch to Matthew Breetzke at the edge of the ropes off Williams.

But by then, he had done enough to carry India to a total that could give them a realistic shot at a series-levelling win despite a slew of wickets at the end, including the hit-wicket dismissal of Jitesh Sharma.

At the time of going to press, South Africa had scored 51/4 in 8 overs.

BRIEF SCORES: India 201/7 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 60, Suryakumar Yadav 100) vs South Africa