Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli engineered a maddening partnership to destroy South Africa's bowling attack. Powered by the duo's historic partnership, the men in blue put up a monstrous target of 238 for the Proteas to chase.
The partnership brought in an average of 14.57 runs per over and was the fastest 100+ stand for India in the shortest format of the game going by the run rate.
The Fastest 100+ Stands For India in T20Is as Per Run-rate
- 14.57 - Suryakumar Yadav & Virat Kohli (102 off 42) vs South Africa in Guwahati 2022*
- 13.10 - KL Rahul & MS Dhoni (107 off 49) vs West Indies in Lauderhill 2016
- 13.02 KL Rahul & Rohit Sharma (165 off 76) vs Sri Lanka in Indore 2017
Suryakumar Yadav came to the crease at the 11.4 over-mark. Virat Kohli was at the crease and had played just 4 deliveries by then. India had just lost KL Rahul, who went back after scoring a fifty.
What followed was pure madness. Suryakumar Yadav raced away to 14 off 8 deliveries, but Bavuma brought back Rabada into the attack and all hell broke loose.
Also Read: Suryakumar Yadav becomes fastest to reach 1000 T20I runs by balls faced, here are the top 5
Sky smacked Rabada, one of the best bowlers in the world for 2 maximums and 2 boundaries, and collected 22 runs off the over. Ngidi came on next and met with the same fate, and it was not long before Suryakumar Yadav got to his fifty in just 18 deliveries.
Wayne Parnell came onto the bowl the 17th over, and Kohli, who was at 18 off as many as 14 deliveries, raced away to 33 runs at the end of the over. Sky fell soon after to an unfortunate run-out, which by the way, seemed like the only way to get him out. Kohli continued to good work, smacked 49 off 28 balls and stayed on till the end.
The highlight of the partnership was the way they complemented each other. Virat's unwavering presence at the other end helped Sky play the way he wanted to. Sky's monstrous stroke-play allowed Kohli to settle the play according to his set template. It was the perfect example of well, 'A Song of Ice & Fire'.
Fair to say, it was a partnership for the ages.
