DRS returns and a lucky review worked for India as Kuldeep Yadav got a fourth wicket, his second of the over after sending Nandre Burger back on the first delivery of his third over. Not long before he cleaned up David Miller to complete his second five-wicket haul.
Ravindra Jadeja got rid of Andile Phehlukwayo while Kuldeep Yadav sent back Keshav Maharaj as South Africa have now lost 7 wickets.
South Africa lost half their side with Kuldeep Yadav getting the first wicket of the night as Donovan Ferreira went back for 12 immediately after hitting a six.
Ravindra Jadeja was crying out to give it out but since India couldn't take a review due to DRS malfunction, David Miller survived as the on-field umpire gave it not out despite a deflection visible in the replays.
South Africa are losing this contest pretty early. If losing three wickets in the powerplay wasn't enough, the Proteas lost their skipper Aiden Markram immediately after powerplay with vice-captain Ravindra Jadeja striking in the very first over.
Arshdeep Singh struck in the final over of the powerplay with the big wicket of Heinrich Klaasen as South Africa's innings is coming downhill pretty well.
Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram seemed to be repairing the innings for South Africa like the second T20I before Mohammed Siraj with a rocket arm at mid-on caught the former short of his ground.
Reeza Hendricks couldn't get the bat to ball in the first over as Mohammed Siraj bowled a maiden. Mukesh Kumar in the second over got the breakthrough as Matthew Beetzke chopped on after hitting the first ball for a bouncary.
Suryakumar Yadav's century and his 112-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal was key to India getting to 201, which might not be a winning score on this surface but it is a huge total and South Africa will need to bat really well to chase it down.
A couple of runs off the first delivery to complete his century and then Surya hit straight to the backward square leg fielder on the next ball of Lizaad Williams to get out but he did his job.
Suryakumar Yadav slammed his fourth T20I century as he equalled the likes of Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell to score the joint-most tons in the shortest format.
Rinku Singh couldn't do much on Thursday in the third T20I apart from hitting one six as he became debutant Nandre Burger's first victim in T20Is after hitting straight to the fine-leg fielder.
Suryakumar Yadav is now in second position on the list of Indian batters with most sixes in T20Is as he went past Virat Kohli. Surya currently has 122 sixes in the format for India with Rohit Sharma at the top with 182 maximums to his name.
Yashasvi Jaiswal played well for his 60 but mistimed a Tabraiz Shamsi delivery as South Africa get a wicket out of nowhere.
Surya was struggling for a bit but he got an ideal bowler in Andile Phehlukwayo to get his touch back as he hit 6, 4, 6, 6 in four balls to bring up his half-century off just 32 balls. India are cruising now.
Yashasvi Jaiswal brought up his third half-century off just 34 balls and celebrated with a six through a pull shot as he keeps India on course of a big score.
The duo of Surya and Jaiswal brought up a 50-run partnership in just 34 balls with the latter playing the lead role. Surya, on the other hand, was unusually struggling to find gaps and his timing before finally getting a six off Maharaj in the 11th over while Jaiswal has kept the momentum.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav and youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal kept their promise of staying on the aggressive route despite a couple of wickets fell as they ended the powerplay on 62 for India.
Keshav Maharaj returned to the side and had an immediate impact on the game! He first trapped Shubman Gill LBW and then on the very next delivery he presented a bait to Tilak Varma by bowling a loopy overpitched delivery outside the off-stump and the left-hander hit straight to the mid-off fielder.
India were off to a fantastic start scoring 29 runs in the first two overs as both Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were off in a flash.
Team India aim for a good start in the series decider. There will be some help for the pacers initially and if both Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal can get through it, there are runs to be had.
India lost both the openers by the second over in the last game and they will need both Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal to fire in the decider. Since it's a flat wicket, India will need a total in excess of 210-220 to challenge South Africa and for that, they'd hope for a good start.
Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar
Playing XI: Reeza Hendricks, Matthew Breetzke, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi, Nandre Burger
South Africa captain Aiden Markram chose to bowl first after winning the toss yet again, on the expected lines. Markram said that it was a fresh wicket and he was happy to see how his team chased the total down. Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, said that India wanted to bat first so both teams got what they wanted.
It's a tricky one, which applies to all the great batting venues - should you bat first and utilise the good batting conditions and bat the opposition out of the game or choose to bowl since it's a venue where defending is hard? It's tough but looking at history and the second game, chasing is the most likely option.
South Africa will be without Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee keeping Test matches in mind while India too are likely to make a change or two, especially in their bowling department considering how easily the Proteas chased down 152 runs in Gqeberha in the second game.
Small boundaries, belter of a pitch and fast outfield, in other words, batters will have a field day while it is a bowler's graveyard and both teams will hope to come out on top at the end of it all, somehow.
Welcome to our live coverage of the third T20I between India and South Africa. South Africa won the second T20I and India will be aiming to level it at the Wanderers in Johanneburg.
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