Axar Patel continued his excellent showing in the field as he took a blinder in the ongoing third T20I of the 4-match series between South Africa and India, being played at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on November 14, 2024.
South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl first. Sanju Samson registered his second consecutive duck, but then Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma added 107 runs for the second wicket. Abhishek found some form and made 50 in 25 balls with 5 sixes and 3 fours.
Tilak Varma took over and began propelling India to a total well past 200 runs. He got support from Hardik Pandya (18) and debutant Ramandeep Singh, who hit a six on the first ball he faced and made 15 in 6 balls.
But it was Tilak Varma who ruled as he smashed his maiden T20I century for India, finishing on 107* in 56 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes to his name and propelled India to 219/6 in 20 overs.
In reply, Ryan Rickelton (20) and Reeza Hendricks (21) gave a good start to Proteas. But Varun Chakaravarthy removed Hendricks, while Arshdeep Singh dismissed Rickelton.
Aiden Markram showed some glimpses of returning to form with 29 in 18 balls but fell to Varun as well. While Henrich Klaasen was going bonkers at one end, hitting Varun for 3 sixes and taking 23 runs off one over, David Miller was struggling to time his shots.
Miller did hit Hardik Pandya for a six on the leg side, but in an attempt to hit a similar shot, he managed to fall prey to an excellent catch by Axar Patel.
It was the 5th ball of the 16th over and Miller pulled a wide short ball from Pandya towards deep midwicket. The ball was seemingly sailing over Axar Patel’s head, but Axar timed his jump perfectly to grab the ball out of thin air. Miller had walked back with shock on his face, scoring 18 in 18 balls.
Here is the video:
However, Marco Jansen took over and hammered a fiery 54 in just 17 balls with 5 sixes and 4 fours before he was out LBW to Arshdeep Singh in the last over. South Africa almost managed to pull off a heist but finished on 207/7 in 20 overs.
India won the 3rd T20I by 11 runs and took a 2-1 series lead with the final match to be played on November 15 in Johannesburg.
