What happened the last time India played a T20I at Supersport Park, Centurion before SA vs IND 2024?
India will face South Africa in the 3rd T20I of the ongoing series on Wednesday, November 13, at the Supersport Park, Centurion.
After winning the first T20I, India failed to keep the momentum going as hosts South Africa bounced back to win the second game and level the series 1-1. The action now moves to the all-important third T20I at Centurion as both teams will be keen to take the lead.
Looking behind, India have played only one T20I at the Supersport Park, Centurion, prior to the upcoming game. They faced South Africa in the second T20I here in 2018. India batted first and put up a challenging total of 188/4 on the board.
While the top order failed to score substantially, Manish Pandey (79*) and MS Dhoni (52*) smashed important fifties to take the visitors to a competitive total. South Africa lost two wickets early inside the powerplay in their run-chase.
However, JP Duminy and Heinrich Klaasen put up a crucial 93-run stand for the third wicket that took the game away from India. JP Duminy remained unbeaten on 64 off 40 deliveries while Klaasen smashed 69 runs off 30 balls. The Indian bowlers failed to stage a comeback as the hosts eventually crossed the victory line in just 18.4 overs with six wickets to spare.
Jaydev Unadkat picked up two wickets while Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya grabbed one apiece. However, this effort was not good enough to contain the batters and India lost the game.
Therefore, the Men in Blue do not have fond memories at this venue when it comes to T20Is. As they are set to play a T20I at the Supersport Park, Centurion once again, they will be keen to better their record in the format at the venue.
South Africa vs India 2024 T20I series so far
The four-match T20I series between South Africa and India began on Friday, November 8, with the first game played in Durban. The visitors batted first and piled on a massive total of 202/8 thanks to a blistering and record-breaking century (107 off 50) from Sanju Samson.
In response, South Africa lost their first wicket in the very first over of the chase. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and failed to recover as they were eventually bowled out for 141, nowhere close to the target.
Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi picked up three wickets each as India won by 61 runs to go 1-0 up.
However, in the second T20I at Gqeberha, South Africa staged a comeback to win and level the series. Bowling first, they restricted India to a below-par total of 124/6 in what was a complete bowling effort from the team.
The chase was not as straightforward though, as the hosts were reduced to 86/7 at one stage. Varun Chakravarthy led India's fight with a five-wicket haul. However, the visitors did not have enough runs on the board to play with as South Africa managed to overhaul the target with an over and three wickets to spare eventually.
With two games left in the series, the third T20I at Centurion becomes crucial with both teams fighting to take the lead.