On Wednesday, Illyas and Tilak Varma’s lusty knock pushed India to a total of 219/6 in the third T20I against South Africa on Wednesday. The 20-year-old made his maiden T20I century off 51 balls, becoming the youngest player to achieve this feat against a top-10 ranked team. What Varma’s fireworks did was to help India set a challenging target for South Africa with the required run rate climbing to 11 runs per over. No. 3 in the batting line-up.
Varma’s Maiden Century
It took only the 19th over for Tilak Varma to get to three figures. Up till then, he had already rampaged eight fours and six sixes. One would imagine that there was just some aggressive intent to his batting. The hundred came at a much-needed stage of the match when India had already lost early wickets. His knock steadied the innings and gave momentum to India to set a daunting total.
Speaking after his achievement, Varma said he had been feeling the pressure before the match and the conditions were not exactly in his favour at Centurion. “After injury, coming back and scoring a century was incredible. Playing here was challenging at the start because the wicket was two-paced. I was just focussing on holding my shape,” Varma said in the mid-innings break. He revealed that he and partner Abhishek Sharma had gone through a few nerve-wracking moments early but spent the words of motivation on each other and stuck to the basics.
Strong Partnerships Fuel India’s Total
Good all-round support from Abhishek Sharma provided the right momentum going in, who himself had played a great hand in setting up India’s big score. He blazed his way to a quickfire 50 off 25 balls. Combining well with Varma, he put on a very crucial 107-run stand off just 56 balls and aggressive batting helped change the course of the game in favor of India from a shaky start.
Varma once again forged a crucial alliance this time with Rinku Singh, as he scored 58 runs off 35 balls. Singh’s cameo helped India build up towards the end of the innings, ensuring they posted a score well above 200.
Rebuttal by South Africa
South Africa captain Aiden Markram again won the toss, for the third game running in this series. South Africa elected to bowl first, hoping that the conditions would favor their well-balanced but attack-minded pace attack. But Varma’s onslaught and his partnerships ensured a target that was too tough for South Africa.
Earlier in the series, India’s batting had been patchy, particularly in the second T20I where they could only muster 124 runs. The pace and bounce of the Centurion pitch was to be tested by the Indian batsmen but Varma’s ton has put them on top of the game.
Indian Total: 219/6
At the end of 20 overs, India came out with 219/6, a total that South Africa has to chase for. This leaves their batting lineup at an asking rate that stands at 11. A levelled series now turns 2-1 in India’s favor, as India will look to defend this target and take an unassailable lead in the four-match series.
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