4th T20I: Blistering tons by Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma give India huge win, seal series 3-1

Johannesburg: India outplayed South Africa by 135 runs in the fourth and final T20I at the Wanderers Stadium here on Friday and sealed the series 3-1.

After scoring mammoth 283 runs, India restricted the hosts at 148 runs in 18.2 overs. Chasing the huge target, the Proteas lost 4 wickets in 3 overs. Then David Miller (36)and Tristan Stubbs (43)put on 86 runs in 9 overs.

Earlier, top-order batters Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma struck centuries and shared a historic 210-run partnership, which took India to a mammoth 283/1. Sanju’s innings of 109 not out was his third century in five games whereas Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 120-run knock put him in an elite list of only five batters, including Samson, to have scored centuries in consecutive T20I.

Incidentally, Samson had achieved the feat in this series itself when he scored a hundred in the first match of this T20I series against South Africa at Kingsmead, adding to the hundred he scored against Bangladesh in India's previous match. This is Samson's second century of this four-match series and third in the last five matches.

A plethora of records were set at the Wanderers including the most sixes in an innings (23), the first time two centuries have been scored in the same innings (when two member sides are playing), the highest partnership for any wicket in T20I’s and India’s fastest innings to reach 200 (14.1 overs).

Samson once again wreaked havoc on the Proteas bowlers. After scoring a century in the first T20I, the 30-year-old from Kerala was dismissed for two consecutive ducks in the subsequent games.

On Friday after skipper Suryakumar Yadav elected to bat first, Samson welcomed Gerald Coetzee with a six and four in the second over to get the ball rolling for India. He continued building his innings with another six and four off Lutho Sipamla in the fourth over.

Abhishek Sharma (36) began the carnage in the fifth over when he smashed 24 runs off Andile Similane’s first over. The first ball was smashed out of the park by the young left-handed batter and was followed by a wide, six and a four.

The Proteas suffered a setback as Coetzee pulled up ahead of the fifth over and was forced to walk out of the ground with an injury. Sharma tried to utilize the final over of the Power-play and tried to charge down off Sipamla’s bowling but ended up nicking it behind Heinrich Klaasen.

Samson and Varma raced to their centuries from thereon, reaching the milestone in 51 and 41 balls respectively. The duo ended the night with a huge partnership of 210 runs and powered India to 283/1 against South Africa, the highest-ever total at the Wanderers Stadium.

Brief scores: India 283/1 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 109 not out, Abhishek Sharma 36, Tilak Varma 120 not out; Lutho Sipamla 1-58) beat South Africa 148/10 in 18.2 overs (David Miller 36, Tristan Stubbs 43, Marco Jansen 29no, Arshdeep Singh 3/29, Varun Chakaravarty 2/42, Axar Patel 2/6 ). Agencies

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