Tilak Varma hit a maiden international century as India held their nerve to beat South Africa by 11 runs in the third T20 International in Centurion on Wednesday and take an unassailable lead in the four-match series.
Varma, 22, smashed an unbeaten 107 off just 56 balls as India posted a massive score of 219-6. The world champions reached the score despite losing in-form opener Sanju Samson for a second-ball duck. Fellow opener Abhishek Sharma maintained the tempo by hitting 50 from 25 balls.
Varma and Abhishek put on 107 from 50 balls for the second wicket to lay the platform for the visitors as South Africa lacked discipline with the ball, conceding 10 wides and three no balls in the innings.
Varma reached his century from 51 deliveries as he struck eight fours and seven sixes.
South Africa were always behind in their chase in the face of some excellent spin bowling from Axar Patel (1-29 in four overs) and the wiles of seamer Arshdeep Singh (3-37), but a late flurry of runs got them close.
They managed 208-7 in reply. The hosts trail India 2-1 in the four-match series with the final game to be played in Johannesburg on Friday.
With the result, India maintained their superb run in T20 series this year. The team in blue have remained unbeaten in all series and tournaments this year, including their victorious campaign at the T20 World Cup where they did not lose a single match.
Under Rohit Sharma and now Suryakumar Yadav, India have lost just two out of 25 T20 matches played in 2024.
"I was waiting for this for a long time, coming back after injury," Varma told host broadcaster SuperSport, referring to a hand injury which restricted his playing time in 2024.
"I was just thinking I have got an opportunity to bat at number three and I just wanted to express myself. It was my dream and it was the right time to score a hundred for my team. A kind of a decider in the series. Under the pressure, it was a good knock."
In reply, South Africa struggled to get going. Ryan Rickelton was out bowled for 20 – playing onto his stumps off Arshdeep.
Early in the chase, play was stopped for an odd reason – flying ants. The game resumed 20 minutes later with no overs lost.
Reeza Hendricks scored 21 off 13 before he was out stumped off spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
The wrist spinner struck again as skipper Aiden Markram scored 29 off 18 – including two sixes – before he was out caught in the deep.
India had a firm grip on the game when Tristan Stubbs (12) was out lbw, before Heinrich Klaasen tried to turn the game around.
He hit four powerful sixes – three coming in a row against Chakravarthy. When he was caught on 41 at deep point off Arshdeep, the equation looked impossible for South Africa.
But all-rounder Marco Jansen struck five sixes and four fours in his first T20 half-century to bring the hosts close to the finish line.
Arshdeep trapped Jansen lbw in the final over to pull off a hard-fought win for the world champions.
The T20 series result comes at an opportune time for India who had recently been blanked 3-0 at home in a Test series by New Zealand. Their next assignment will be the five-Test series in Australia which starts later this month.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The five pillars of Islam
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.3-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E299hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E420Nm%20at%202%2C750rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E12.4L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh157%2C395%20(XLS)%3B%20Dh199%2C395%20(Limited)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Results
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