JOHANNESBURG: Following his side’s 106-run loss against India, South African skipper Aiden Markram said that the side felt it could chase down the target of 202 runs.
Suryakumar’s record-levelling fourth T20I ton and Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul helped India beat the Proteas by 106 runs in the third T20I to end the series 1-1.
“Was not too unhappy with chasing 200. Felt we could have chased it down. It was chaseable. It was slightly on the lower side. When we were fielding, it seemed batters could hit it everywhere. Would have been nice to do better. There are some positives that we can take forward. A couple of good things and a couple of things we can work on”, said Markram in a post-match presentation.
Coming to the match, India was put to bat first by South Africa. Shubman Gill (12) continued his disappointing T20I run and Tilak Varma scored a golden duck, reducing India to 29/2.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (60 in 41 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (100 in 56 balls, with seven fours and eight sixes) lifted India with a 112-run stand.
Suryakumar completed his record-equalling fourth T20I ton and got some support from Rinku Singh (14) which helped India reach 201/7 in 20 overs. Keshav Maharaj (2/26) and Lizaad Williams (2/46) were top bowlers for South Africa.
In the chase of 202 runs, South Africa were put on the back foot right from the start with quick wickets. Only David Miller (35 in 25 balls with two fours and two sixes) and skipper Aiden Markram (25 in 14 balls with one four and two sixes) could post decent knocks as a five-wicket haul by Kuldeep Yadav (5/17) bundled the Proteas out for 95 in 13.5 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja took two scalps while Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar got one wicket each. Suryakumar walked away with the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards for scoring a fifty and a century in two matches. (ANI)