Insights: India Vs South Africa T20 series

The Indian Cricket Team traveled to South Africa for a T20 series which started in the first week of November. This series was extremely important for the visitors as they are in the process of building a fresh side. Post the retirement of stalwarts- Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, the selectors of the national team have decided to infuse young blood in the set up. Hence, this series held great significance as the Indian team tried different combinations to build a team for future requirements. 

Match 1: 8 November, 2024, Kingsmead, Durban 

The series started with fireworks from the willow of Sanju Samson as he scored a century with a strike rate of 214.00. Tilak Varma played a little cameo of 33 off 18 as well. On the other hand, it was Gerald Coetzee who minimized the damage by taking crucial three wickets of Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh. 

As India posted 202 on the board, no strong show was seen by the hosts as they lost the match by 61 runs. Varun Chakaravarthy did some special work with the ball as he took three wickets. 

Match 2: 10 November, 2024, St George’s Oval, Gqeberha

It’s quite a humiliation to lose a match at home ground. Hence, South Africans recalibrated quickly and bounced back in the second T20I. They won the match by 3 wickets and the series was leveled 1-1 after the second match. 

Star of the night was Tristan Stubbs as he remained unbeaten on 47(41)*. Other than him, the South Africa’s bowling department did a commendable job as they restricted India to 124. 

The positive note for Indian team was a fifer by mystery spinner of KKR- Varun Chakaravarthy. In his quota of 4 overs, he gave away 17 runs and took 5 wickets.

Match 3: 13 November, 2024, SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium, Centurion

In the third match, SA won the toss and they elected to bowl. Abhishek Sharma scored a solid fifty and Tilak Varma, who was promoted to one down, scored a century. They together built a strong partnership and did enough damage. Their experience in IPL came handy here as well. 

Some counter attack was seen from the bat of Marco Jansen as he scored 54(17) but chasing 219 was never a one man’s job. Resultantly, India won the third T20 by 11 runs as SA posted 208/7 by the end of twenty overs. 

Match 4: 16 November, 2024, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg 

Indians switched on their beast mode in the final game. They were never in the mood to level the series and their intentions were quite clear from the very beginning. Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma, both scored a century with strike rates of 194.66 and 255.32 respectively. They both swelled the total as India smashed 23 sixes and 17 fours in an innings. By the end, India had put 283 on board and it was virtually impossible to chase down that target. SA succumbed to the pressure of that massive total and they were all out at 148 in 18.2 overs. 

By the end of the series, India gracefully won a T20 series by 3-1, it will regarded as a huge achievement as they won the matches in away conditions and against one of the toughest teams in world cricket. It shall be noted that, SA lost the finals of 2024 T20 World Cup and hence they were not an easy side.