Proteas wilt in the face of batting masterclass from Varma and Samson

Friday night at the Wanderers was a wretched place for South African cricketers. 

All manner of devastation was wrought by a rampant Indian top order, which was followed by a shellacking from their new ball bowlers, making a mess of South Africa’s attempts at redemption in this series.

It was deeply embarrassing and must have been damn awful to play in. 

India’s enormous financial and playing resources, which allows that country to have 14 members of management for a T20 team in South Africa, while India’s Test and A squad tour Australia, shows off their elite status. That is how the 0.01% of cricket lives. 

South Africa rested Kagiso Rabada for this series, don’t have the services of Quinton de Kock any longer and decided not to pick either Tabraiz Shamsi or Anrich Nortjé. Those four all featured in June’s World Cup final, when South Africa lost narrowly to India. In comparison, just four of India’s starting XI on Friday night, played in the Bridgetown showpiece. 

The depth at India’s disposal is frightening, but the quality of South Africa's play throughout this series has not been up to standard, and as stock is taken over the next few weeks, there are a couple of players whose futures in this team must be strongly reconsidered.     

India produced another monumental batting display, inflicting damage not just on South African psyches, but spectators too, with one poor patron struck in the face as she sought her seat in the lower Memorial Stand. 

Record followed record; India’s total of 283/1 was the most runs South Africa had conceded in a T20 International, it was India’s second highest total, the fifth highest ever and Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 210-run partnership was India’s highest for any wicket and the sixth most all time. 

Where to start? Wides is as good a place as any, for that has been the overriding theme of South Africa’s bowling throughout the series. Marco Jansen started Friday’s match with a wide, and by the time the innings had finished the Proteas total wides for the series stood at 40 — 18 of those coming from Gerald Coetzee. 

Noting the continuation of that ill-discipline, India set about flattening the home side. They got help too — besides the wides, Reeza Hendricks dropped a sitter at slip to give Abhishek Sharma a life, when he was still on nought. The Indian opener dished out his gratitude for that piece of charity with a brutal 18-ball innings of 36, with one of the highlights him taking a full toss, delivered 30cm outside leg stump by Andile Simelane and annihilating it over extra cover for six. The ball didn’t come off the middle of his bat. It didn’t have to, because India’s intent was sufficient. 

It was Samson, who having followed his century in Durban with ducks in Gqeberha and Centurion, put the spectator in the infirmary, with one of his nine sixes during his 109 not out. But even his strike rate of 194.64, looked pedestrian next to Varma, whose overall strike rate for his innings was 255.31. 

In fact, in going from 50 to his final total of 120 not out, Varma faced just 25 balls. Having given him the No.3 spot before the Centurion match — where he also made a hundred — India’s selectors dare not remove him from that position now. 

It was obscene from the Indian duo who registered just the third occasion that two batters have scored 100s in the same T20 innings at international level. 

It didn’t matter what the South Africans bowled, it was met with a flashing Indian blade, and ended up with the tourists smashing 23 sixes, the highest in an innings between two Full Member nations of the ICC. 

As if the battering with the bat wasn’t bad enough, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya, then demolished the Proteas with the new ball. By the time the power play was finished, four batters were back in the hut, with just 30 runs on the board. Arshdeep was responsible for three wickets. 

When all was said and mercifully done, there was another record. The margin of 135 runs, was South Africa's largest defeat in a T20 International.