Indian team emerged victorious in the third match of the ongoing T20 series between India and South Africa. The Proteas captain Aiden Markram won the toss and decided to bowl first. Markram's decision was proved right by bowler Marco Jansen on the second ball as he bowled out Indian opener Samson. For the second consecutive match, Sanju Samson was dismissed on a duck. The Indian team promoted young batsman Tilak Varma at number three. Tilak started the work of weaving the innings together with Abhishek Sharma. Both young batsmen displayed aggressive batting right from the beginning. The result of the duo's dynamic batting was that India put 70 runs on the board in just 6 overs.
Abhishek Sharma completed his 50 off 24 balls. However, he was dismissed on the very next ball of the half-century. South African spinner Keshav Maharaj stumped Abhishek. After this, skipper Suryakumar Yadav came to bat and could not do much and scored just 1 run. But Tilak Varma was holding one end as wickets were falling continuously from the other end. Meanwhile, Tilak also completed his 50 in 32 balls. India started at a very fast pace. But in the middle overs, the Indian batsmen failed to score quick runs. Tilak was constantly attacking the South African bowlers.
India completed their 200 runs in the 19th over. In the same over, Tilak Varma also completed his maiden T20I century. Tilak completed this century in 51 balls. With the help of Tilak's century, India put 219 runs on board. In reply, the South African batsmen also started well. Indian bowlers took the hosts' wickets at frequent intervals. Despite this, South Africa remained in the match by scoring runs at a fast pace. In the end, South Africa could only reach 208 runs and India won the match by 11 runs. With this victory, India has taken a 2-1 lead in the series. The last match of the series will be played in Johannesburg on 15 November.