Johannesburg, 16 November (HS). After scoring a century in the second consecutive T-20 match against South Africa, Tilak Verma said that he had never even imagined this. Tilak scored 120 runs in the match and won both the Player of the Series and Man of the Match awards.
Tilak said after the match, “I never thought that I would be able to score two centuries in such challenging conditions in South Africa, it is unbelievable and I had never even imagined it.”
Tilak expressed his gratitude to captain Suryakumar Yadav for his support and said, “Thank you to our captain Surya for this.”
Talking about his recent injury struggles, he talked about how his faith in God and his process helped him recover and perform at his best.
He said, “As I said in the last match, I was injured in the last few matches. I believe in God and my process, so I celebrated like this in front of God.”
Describing his innings, he humorously recalled his previous experience in South Africa and said, “Last year, when I played here, I was out on the first ball. This innings was very important for the team and the series.”
Tilak stressed the importance of remaining calm and sticking to one’s basics. “I just wanted to maintain my form and follow my fundamentals like I did in the last game,” he said. I remained calm the whole time.”
His performance not only helped India win the series but also earned him recognition as one of the best players of the series.
Talking about the match, after winning the toss in this match, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav decided to bat first. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opened the batting for India and made a solid partnership of 73 runs. Abhishek played a brilliant inning of 36 runs in 18 balls, hitting 2 fours and 4 sixes, but Lutho Sipamala sent him to the pavilion in the sixth over.
After this, Tilak Verma and Samson played explosive innings. Sanju Samson completed his century in just 51 balls in the 18th over, after which Tilak Verma scored his second T20 century in the very next over. With the record breaking partnership of 210 runs between Samson and Tilak, India made a huge score of 283 runs for 1 wicket in 20 overs. Samson played a stormy inning of 109 runs on 51 balls, while Tilak played an unbeaten inning of 120 runs on just 47 balls.
Under pressure, the South African team was reduced to 148 runs in 19 overs. For the hosts, Tristan Stubbs (43 runs from 29 balls, 3 fours and 2 sixes) and David Miller (36 runs from 27 balls, 2 fours and 3 sixes) were the top scorers.
