Suryakumar Yadav's Hundred, Kuldeep's Fifer Fashion India's Series-Levelling Win Over South Africa

14.12.2023 - 20:23 sports.ndtv.com

Captain Suryakumar Yadav produced a hundred of rare brilliance and Kuldeep Yadav worked his inimitable sorcery with a fifer as India registered a comprehensive 106-run series-levelling win over South Africa in the third and final T20I in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Suryakumar's 100 off 56 balls that contained seven fours and eight sixes and Yashasvi Jaiswal's fluent 60 off 41 balls carried India to 201 for 7 after the visitors were asked to bat first.

Indian bowlers, especially left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (5/17), who turned 29 on Thursday, managed to hit better lengths to bundle out SA for 95 in 13.5 overs.

But for that India need to profusely thank Suryakumar. The 33-year-old exploited the opportunity to bat on a bone-dry surface making his fourth T20I century, joining team-mate Rohit Sharma and Australian Glenn Maxwell as batters with that many three-figure scores in the shortest format.

cricket South Africa Cricket Team India Cricket Team South Africa vs India Glenn Maxwell Aiden Markram Rohit Sharma Kuldeep Yadav Suryakumar Yadav Rinku Singh Australia South Africa India

India star Suryakumar Yadav was on Wednesday named as one of the four nominees for the ICC Men's T20 Cricketer of the Year 2023. The 33-year-old Indian, who won the accolade in 2022, dominated 2023 in the shortest format with 733 runs from 17 innings at an average of 48.86 and strike rate of 155.95. Young India opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal was also named as one of the four nominees for the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year 2023.

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It was one of those days, where unexpected things were always round the corner in Cape Town. On a bright sunny morning on Wednesday, South Africa capitulated for just 55 with fast bowler Mohammed Siraj breathing fire. He took six wickets as India bowled out its rivals for the lowest score ever by any team against the side. However, that was just the first part of the thriller that was about to unfold. India were expected to take a huge lead. Though the Rohit Sharma-led side took the lead comfortably, the incidents that began to unravel from the 34th over of the Indian innings was beyond any explanation.

"Suryakumar Yadav Is A Freak...": England Great Says He Doesn't Know 'What To Do" In ODIs

Suryakumar Yadav is a bit clueless in 50-overs cricket but the swashbuckling batter "is a freak" who is absolutely in command in the shortest format and will be the one to look out for at the T20 World Cup later this year, feels former England skipper Nasser Hussain. Since beginning his T20I journey for India in 2021, Suryakumar has quickly established himself as one of the best batters in the shortest format of the game, scoring four centuries and 17 fifties from 60 T20Is.

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India's dream of winning a Test series in South Africa for the first time was ended inside three days as they crashed to an innings-and-32-run defeat at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

'Need To Wake Up': Sunil Gavaskar Blasts 'Listless' India On Day 3 Against South Africa

Legendary Indian cricket team batter Sunil Gavaskar slammed Rohit Sharma and Co for a 'listless' start to the action on Day 3 of the first Test match against South Africa in Centurion on Thursday. Dean Elgar and Marco Jansen were not bothered much by the Indian bowlers and there were even a couple of fielding errors that led to easy runs. Gavaskar was not happy with India's approach in the first session on Day 3 and said that they should have been 'full of energy' at the start of day's play.