Captain Suryakumar Yadav scored 100 off 56 while opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made 41-ball 60 to take India to 201/7 against South Africa in the third T20I on Thursday.
Spinner Keshav Maharaj was the only South African bowler who commanded any respect from the ruthless Indian batters who looked determined to level the series at the Wanderers Stadium. Maharaj gave away just 26 runs in his four overs (Eco 6.50) and picked the prized wickets of Shubman Gill (8 from 6) and Tilak Varma (0).
Lizaad Willaims (4.0-0-46-2-11.50), Tabraiz Shamsi (4.0-0-38-1-9.50) and Nandre Burger (4.0-0-39-1-9.75) were the other Proteas bowlers who managed to clinch wickets.
Suryakumar Yadav's knock included seven fours and eight sixes. Jaiswal and Suryakumar took India to 62 for 2 in the Power Play passage, and it followed another period of lull as they added just 25 runs in the next four overs as the visitors reached 87 for two at the halfway mark.
But they broke the barn door soon and runs began to flow in a rush.
Suryakumar, who gave all the space to his junior partner in the early part of the partnership, soon took over the role of chief aggressor once the tenth over mark passed.
He pulled those 360' shots out of the shelf to punish the SA bowlers who did not have much variety to tame Suryakumar on a benign pitch.
Pacer Andile Phehlukwayo bore the brunt of Suryakumar's awesome skill sets in this format.
The Indian skipper hammered Phehlukwayo for 22 runs in the 13th over through a sequence of 6, 4, 6, 6, an over in which he also brought up his fifty along with that last maximum.
Jaiswal too had his own little moments like a magical pull shot off pacer Lizaad that gave him six runs over mid-wicket.
But the left-hander's effort to clear long-off off left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi ended in the hands of Reeza Hendricks.
However, there was no stopping of Suryakumar, who continued to cart the Proteas bowlers around, using nimble footwork and that manipulative wrists.
The 33-year-old soon fetched a well-deserved hundred in a surprisingly sedate manner -- with a double off Williams -- off 55 balls.
He could not last till the end, giving a catch to Matthew Breetzke at the edge of the ropes off Williams.
But by then, he had done enough to carry India to a total that could give them a realistic shot at a series-levelling win despite a slew of wickets at the end, including the hit-wicket dismissal of Jitesh Sharma.
- With PTI inputs
