India produced a clinical performance with bat and ball to beat South Africa by 106 runs in the third and final T20I to level the 3-match series 1-1 in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Chasing a mammoth 202 for victory, the Proteas innings folded for 95 as India registered its biggest ever win over South Africa in T20I cricket at the Wanderers stadium.
Five-star Kuldeep shines again
Kuldeep Yadav bagged his maiden T20I five-wicket haul while Ravindra Jadeja grabbed a couple of scalps for Team India while Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh also got themselves on the wickets column.
The hosts failed to read the wicket and were bamboozled by the Indian spinners with only David Miller (35) and captain Aidan Markham (25) managing double digit scores.
SKY leads from the front
Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav led from the front to power the Men in Blue to a challenging total of 201 for 7 in 20 overs after they were put into bat by Markram.
Surya smashed 100 off 56 balls with 7 fours and 8 sixes to top-score in the match. He was ably supported by opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (60) as the duo stitched a 112-run partnership for the third wicket to propel India past the 200-run mark.
The captains corner
"It was wonderful scoring a hundred, and especially when it comes in a winning cause. One box we wanted to tick was play fearless brand of cricket.
"Really happy the boys showed a lot of character. Kuldeep is never happy with a three-for or a four-for. A perfect self birthday present," Surya said after India bounced back in the series following their 5-wicket loss in the second T20I.
"To be honest, I wasn't toon unhappy with the 200 looking at how the pitch played as I watched it when fielding. It felt like a little stoppy and a little down when we were batting, while when we were fielding it looked like they could hit it anywhere," SA captain Markram said after the match.
