Team India ended their four-match T20I series against South Africa with an emphatic 135-run win in Johannesburg. Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma scored spectacular centuries to guide India to the 3-1 series win. This was Samson’s second century in the series after scoring 107 off 50 balls in the opening game in Durban.
The 30-year-old wicketkeeper and batter was not out on 109 off 56 balls with 6 fours and 9 sixes. He had scored two ducks in the previous two matches in Gqeberha and Centurion. Tilak Varma was not out on 120 from just 47 balls with 9 fours and 10 sixes. This was the second successive ton for the 22-year-old.
Speaking at the end of the game, Samson who was visibly emotional, said to Jio Cinema, “It is a bit hard to tell right now since I'm breathing so fast. I have had so many failures in my life, got two hundreds and then two ducks, I kept on believing in myself, kept on working hard and it came off today. After a couple of failures there were a lot of things going on in my head, Abhishek helped me out early on and then Tilak as well.”
Sanju Samson lavishes praise on Tilak Varma after 3rd T20I
Team India scored their 2nd highest T20I and the highest score in Wanderers when they notched up a massive 283 on the board. The stars of the show with the bat were Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma, who added 210 unbroken runs for the second wicket.
When asked to comment on his partner, Samson said, “I have had so many partnerships with him, he is a very young prospect and he is the future of Indian cricket and lovely to have a partnership with him.”
When asked to speak about the value of the innings after scoring two ducks, Samson said, “I don't like to talk much, last time I talked too much I got a couple of ducks, I would like to keep it simple and focus on what I can do. This is what our captain was expecting from us, and we are happy we made it happen.”