IND Vs RSA, 3rd T20I: Tilak Varma's Maiden Ton Helps India Beat South Africa By 11 Runs, Lead Series 2-1

Marco Jansen was hitting all over Centurion Park but Indian seamer Arshdeep Singh kept his cool in the last over and successfully defended 25 runs off the last over to help India defeat South Africa by 11 runs in the third T20I to take a 2-1 lead in the ongoing bilateral series. (Match Highlights | More Cricket News)

South Africa needed 51 runs off the last 12 balls and Jansen targeted Hardik Pandya to collect 26 runs from the 19th over which included two sixes and three fours. The hosts were until in the game when Jansen hit the second delivery of Singh's final over for a six over covers to complete his maiden T20I fifty.

But Arshdeep dismissed him on the next delivery to dismiss the Proteas dream of taking a lead in the series as well. From there, it was a piece of cake for the 'most successful Indian T20I seamer'.

Earlier, South Africa invited India to bat first after winning the toss and Jansen dismissed Sanju Samson for a duck in the second match. It was like a replay of his dismissal in the second T20I match.

Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma started from scratch and added 107 runs for the second wicket. Sharma got stumped out just after completing his half-century. He made 50 off 25 balls which included three fours and five sixes.

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav gave his wicket to Andile Simelane for the second time in the series. Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh also struggled to middle the ball during their short innings.

But Tilak Varma kept holding the fort from one end and kept scoring runs. He completed his maiden international century in just 51 balls and remained unbeaten on 107. He hit eight fours and seven sixes in his 56-ball inning.

Ramandeep Singh, who made his T20I debut in the match, made a quick six-ball 15 in the final overs to help India go past 200 runs. Finally, India set a 220-run target for the hosts.

The match was forced to stop soon after start of the South Africa's inning as Flying ants invaded the stadium and players found it difficult to play in those conditions. The match was halted for 20 minutes.

The match resumed soon with Arshdeep taking the first breakthrough in the third over. Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks added quick runs after that but Varun Chakaravarthy dismissed Hendricks in his first over of the spell to break the partnership.

Chakaravarthy also became the first Indian to take 10 or more wickets in a T20I bilateral series. He partnered with Axar Patel in the middle overs and kept the opponents at bay. Patel bowled brilliantly and finished his spell with the figures of 4-0-29-1.

Ravi Bishnoi was introduced in the 11th over and he only conceded 33 runs in his four overs remaining wicketless in the match. Chakaravarthy also bowled well but his bowling figures were spoilt by Heinrich Klaasen who hit him three sixes in his last over to collect 23 runs from the over.

But it was Arshdeep again who dismissed the dangerous Klaasen and became the highest wicket-taking Indian pacer in the T20I format. His 92 T20I wickets are just four shy of Yuzvendra Chalal's 96 wickets, who is the leading wicket-taker for India in the shortest format.

Indian team will move to Johannesburg to play the final T20I match on Friday. India will be eyeing to bag the series with a comfortable win on Friday.