In the third T20I match of the ongoing series between India and South Africa, India registered a narrow 11-run victory over South Africa at Supersport Park. South Africa pushed India to bat after winning the toss on a surface where chasing the target has been more fruitful than setting the target. Put on to bat first, India lost Sanju Samson on the second ball of the game, but this wicket proved to be an ember that set South African bowling on fire. After Sanju Tilak came on strike in the place of skipper Surya Kumar Yadav. Abhishek Sharma, who failed to create an impact in the first two games of this series, joined forces with Tilak and destroyed the Proteas bowling.
Tilak and Abhishek formed a 107-run partnership in just 8.2 overs before Abhishek was stumped by Klassen on the delivery of Maharaj. From there, none of the Indian batters gave a significant contribution to the total, and Tilak solely took Team India to 219/6 in 20 overs by playing a knock of 107* off 56 balls. Came to chase a 220-run target, South Africa gets a decent start with a 55-run powerplay for the loss of two wickets. But after the powerplay, Indian spinners, especially Varun Chakravarthy, kept South Africa in check by dismissing Tristan Stubbs and skipper Markram. At the halfway point of the innings, South Africa’s score was 84/4.
From there Heinrich Klassen and David Miller tried to save the sinking ship of Proteas, but Miller was dismissed by Pandya when the score was 142/4. After Klassen and Miller’s 58-run partnership, South African batters failed to put up a good 40-50-run partnership again. South Africa kept losing wickets at regular intervals. But Marco Jansen kept fighting on one end, taking South Africa single-handedly to 202 runs before getting out in 19.3 overs. Jansen played a thunderous inning of 54 runs in just 17 balls but failed to take his team to the finish line as South Africa finished on 208/7 to lose this game by 11 runs.
Match Scorecard: SA vs IND 3rd T20I, Centurion, 13 November 2024
India Batting
| Batter | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | |
| Sanju Samson | b Jansen | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Abhishek Sharma | st Klaasen b Maharaj | 50 | 25 | 200 | 3 |
| Tilak Varma | not out | 107 | 56 | 191.07 | 8 |
| Suryakumar Yadav (c) | c Jansen b Simelane | 1 | 4 | 25 | 0 |
| Hardik Pandya | lbw b Maharaj | 18 | 16 | 112.5 | 3 |
| Rinku Singh | b Simelane | 8 | 13 | 61.53 | 0 |
| Ramandeep Singh | run out (Klaasen) | 15 | 6 | 250 | 1 |
| Axar Patel | not out | 1 | 1 | 100 | 0 |
| Extras | (lb 6, nb 3, w 10) | 19 | |||
| Total | 20 Ov (RR: 10.95) | 219/6 |
South Africa Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | ECON |
| Marco Jansen | 4 | 28 | 1 | 7 |
| Gerald Coetzee | 3 | 51 | 0 | 17 |
| Lutho Sipamla | 4 | 45 | 0 | 11.25 |
| Andile Simelane | 3 | 34 | 2 | 11.33 |
| Aiden Markram | 2 | 19 | 0 | 9.5 |
| Keshav Maharaj | 4 | 36 | 2 | 9 |
South Africa Batting
| Batter | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | |
| Ryan Rickelton | b Arshdeep Singh | 20 | 15 | 133.33 | 2 | 1 |
| Reeza Hendricks | st Samson b Varun | 21 | 13 | 161.53 | 4 | 0 |
| Aiden Markram (c) | c Ramandeep Singh b Varun | 29 | 18 | 161.11 | 0 | 2 |
| Tristan Stubbs | lbw b Patel | 12 | 12 | 100 | 2 | 0 |
| Heinrich Klaasen | c Tilak Varma b Arshdeep Singh | 41 | 22 | 186.36 | 1 | 4 |
| David Miller | c Patel b Pandya | 18 | 18 | 100 | 1 | 1 |
| Marco Jansen | lbw b Arshdeep Singh | 54 | 17 | 317.64 | 4 | 5 |
| Gerald Coetzee | not out | 2 | 3 | 66.66 | 0 | 0 |
| Andile Simelane | not out | 5 | 2 | 250 | 1 | 0 |
| Extras | (lb 5, w 1) | 6 | ||||
| Total | 20 Ov (RR: 10.40) | 208/7 |
India Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | ECON |
| Arshdeep Singh | 4 | 37 | 3 | 9.25 |
| Hardik Pandya | 4 | 50 | 1 | 12.5 |
| Axar Patel | 4 | 29 | 1 | 7.25 |
| Varun Chakravarthy | 4 | 54 | 2 | 13.5 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 4 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 |
Man of the Match: SA vs IND 3rd T20I, Centurion, 13 November 2024
Tilak Verma, who became the youngest batsman to score a century in T20Is, was chosen the player of the match for his match-winning 107* (56) innings.
| Player | Team | Score |
| Tilak Verma | India | 107* (56) |
Most Runs: SA vs IND 3rd T20I, Centurion, 13 November 2024
Tilak Verma was the highest scorer of the 3rd T20I of the SA-IND 2024 T20I series; in this game, Tilak scored a century.
| Player | Team | Score |
| Tilak Verma | India | 107* (56) |
Most Wickets: SA vs IND 3rd T20I, Centurion, 13 November 2024
Indian left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh proved to be the best bowler of the T20I match between South Africa and India in Centurion with a bowling spell of 3/37 (4 overs).
| Player | Team | Figures |
| Arshdeep Singh | India | 3/37 (4 overs) |
Most Sixes: SA vs IND 3rd T20I, Centurion, 13 November 2024
Tilak Verma struck seven sixes, the most in the 3rd SA vs IND T20I at Centurion.
| Player | Team | Sixes |
| Tilak Verma | India | 7 |
Playing XIs: SA vs IND 3rd T20I, Centurion, 13 November 2024
South Africa Playing XI
Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klassen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla
India Playing XI
Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav (c), Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy
