'The SKY has no limits' - Suryakumar Yadav guides India to 201 with a record-levelling ton in Johannesburg

After losing the second T20I by five wickets, India came into the third and final match of the series determined to make a comeback on Thursday, December 14 at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. South Africa captain Aiden Markram once again won the toss and elected to bowl first.

India got off to a brisk start as openers Shubman Gill (12 off 6) and Yashasvi Jaiswal managed to get 29 runs in the first two overs. However, Keshav Maharaj brought his team back into the game by dismissing Gill and Tilak Varma (0 off 1) on back-to-back deliveries.

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Captain Suryakumar Yadav walked in at number four once again having the responsibility of stabilizing the innings on his shoulders and he delivered in some style. After smashing a couple of sixes and a boundary in his first 11 deliveries, the Indian captain slowed down a bit as he played second fiddle in a partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal (60 off 41).

The duo added 112 runs for the third wicket off 70 balls and took India’s total past 140. At the end of the 12^th over, Suryakumar was on 35* (29) and decided to get a move on in the 13^th over bowled by Andile Phehlukwayo. The 33-year-old smacked three sixes and four in consecutive deliveries to complete his half-century in 32 balls.

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From there on, there was no stopping him as he took the charge after Jaiswal’s dismissal. The Mumbai-born batter shifted gears as he clobbered South African bowlers all over the park and completed his hundred in 56 balls. With his century, he joined an exclusive club of batters with most hundreds in T20Is. Surykumar Yadav now has four hundreds in the shortest format of the game along with Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell.

Suryakumar Yadav left behind Virat Kohli in list of most T20I sixes by an Indian

During his innings, he also surpassed Virat Kohli (117 sixes) to become the Indian batter with the second most number of sixes in T20Is. He now has 123 maximums to his name from just 60 matches. Courtesy of his knock of 100 (56) where he smacked seven fours and eight sixes, India posted 201/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Meanwhile, X was abuzz with reactions on another 30-degree show by Suryakumar Yadav.

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