Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma both hit unbeaten centuries – the latter recording his second in as many matches – as India eased to a 3-1 T20I series win over South Africa.

Leading 2-1 after Tilak's best-ever T20I knock of 107 not out led them to victory in Wednesday's third match, the tourists produced another magnificent batting display to wrap up the series in Johannesburg.

Samson and Abhishek Sharma put on a partnership of 73 to get the ball rolling after India captain Suryakumar Yadav chose to bat, but they really picked up the pace after the latter feathered Lutho Sipamla's ball through to Heinrich Klaasen for 36.

Tilak came in and smashed 120 runs off just 47 balls faced – including nine fours and 10 sixes – in a brilliant stand with Samson, who scored 109 off 56 deliveries. 

South Africa's bowlers had no answer to the duo's big hitting, with the highlight of the innings coming when Tilak slogged 20 runs off four successive balls in the 14th over.

Finishing 283-1, India fell just 14 runs short of their record total in T20Is, a score of 297-6 versus Bangladesh set last month, and the Proteas' slim hopes of making it competitive were soon dashed.

Arshdeep Singh (3-20) dismissed Reeza Hendricks (0), Aiden Markram (8) and Klaasen (0) within the first three overs of their innings as the hosts were dropped to 10-4. 

Varun Chakravarthy got in on the act with two wickets as India continued to rip through the South Africa batting order, Tristan Stubbs (43) top-scoring for the hosts as they fell 135 runs short of victory.

Data Debrief: Records fall for India pair

South Africa's bowlers were smashed around the Wanderers Stadium by Samson and Tilak, both of whom brought up notable milestones.

Samson became the first cricketer in T20I history to hit three centuries within a single year, having also scored tons against Bangladesh last month and South Africa eight days ago.

Tilak, meanwhile, managed a strike rate of 255.3, the highest ever recorded by an India player in a single T20I innings. 

West Indies players enjoyed big moves in the ICC Men’s T20 International Rankings, which serves as just reward for another convincing 3-0 series sweep of South Africa in Trinidad and Tobago.

Wicketkeeper batsman Nicholas Pooran moved three spots to break into the top 10 after scores of 65 not out, 19 and 35 across the three games. The aggressive left-hander is now the Caribbean side’s highest-ranked batsman in the format, overtaking the injured Brandon King, who slipped one place down to 10 after he sat out the series.

Johnson Charles, who also didn’t feature in the series, also slipped one place down to 11^th, while West Indies captain Rovman Powell stood still at number 34.

Shai Hope continues to prove his worth in the games shortest format, as his scores of 51, 41, and an unbeaten 42 saw him jump 32 places up to 40th, overtaking out-of-favour Kyle Mayers, who slipped three spots down to 42^nd as the next West Indies players in the top 50.

Despite the loss, South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks also made gains, as he moved up to 13^th position.

In the bowling rankings, West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein of moved up four places to second position after taking four wickets in three matches. He was joined by fellow left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie, who moved 10 slots up to third, while Romario Shepherd moved 13 spots up to 31st position.

Alzarri Joseph, who slipped four spots to 15^th, Jason Holder (44^th) and left-arm seamer Obed McCoy (50^th) are the other West Indies bowlers in the top 50.

Meanwhile, England batter Harry Brook moved up to fourth position, while Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Rizwan have reached career-best positions in the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings after their fine performances over the past week.

Brook’s scores of 56 and 32 in the first match of their ICC World Test Championship series against Sri Lanka in Manchester lifted him three places to fourth position, just one adrift of his career-best third position attained following his second-innings century against the West Indies at Trent Bridge last month.

Bangladesh batter Mushfiq’s match-winning 191 in the first Test of the WTC series against Pakistan in Rawalpindi has helped him advance seven places to a career-best-equalling 17^th position, while Pakistan’s Rizwan is in the top 10 for the first time after scores of 171 not out and 51.

Others to move up the Test rankings include Sri Lanka batters Dinesh Chandimal (up four places to 23^rd) and Kamindu Mendis (up eight places to 36^th), Bangladesh’s Liton Das (up two places to 27^th) and England’s Jamie Smith (up 22 places to 42^nd).

In the Test bowling rankings, England’s Chris Woakes is up four places to 16^th after taking three wickets each in both innings against Sri Lanka while Asitha Fernando is up 10 places to 17^th after also finishing with six wickets in the match.

Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah (up four places to 33^rd), England’s new-ball bowler Gus Atkinson (up four places to 42^nd) and Matthew Potts (up five places to 57^th) are the prominent movers in the bowling rankings.

Nepal came to within two runs of a famous victory over South Africa as the Proteas edged a thrilling encounter in Kingstown to remain unbeaten at the T20 World Cup. 

Sompal Kami knew that two runs from the final ball of the match would secure an unlikely triumph, but batting partner Ghulsan Jha was run out at the non-striker's end to conclude their first meeting in international cricket. 

South Africa were restricted to 115-7 with opener Reeza Hendricks producing 43 runs from 49 balls, ultimately handing the initiative to their opponents to keep their Super 8s hopes alive.

Nepal would last until the eighth over before losing Kushal Bhurtel and Rohit Paudel in three balls, but the Rhinos would steady the ship, leading to a nail-biting finish. 

However, Tabraiz Shamsi (4-19) struck twice in a game-changing 18th over, aided by Ottniel Baartman denying seven runs in the final over to decide the tie. 

South Africa face the United States in Antigua on June 19, while Nepal search for their first win of the tournament as they take on Bangladesh in their final Group D game.

Meanwhile, New Zealand secured their first win of their T20 World Cup campaign with relative ease, beating Uganda by nine wickets at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

The Black Caps exit from the tournament had already been confirmed following Afghanistan's seven-wicket triumph over Papua New Guinea, exiting a World Cup before the last four for the first time since 2014.

Trent Boult dictated the early pace of the encounter, taking two wickets inside the first over as their opponents quickly saw five wickets fall for just 15 runs.

Kenneth Waiswa was the only batter for the Cricket Cranes to reach double figures, as wickets from Tim Southee (3-4) and Mitchell Santer (2-8) in successive balls saw Uganda all out for 40. 

Kane Williamson's side faced just 33 balls on their way to victory, as Devon Conway scored an unbeaten 22 from 15 balls to win the contest ahead of their final Group C fixture against the Barramundis. 

Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie played starring roles to lead the West Indies to a 16-run win over South Africa and an unassailable 2-0 series lead at Sabina Park in Kingston on Saturday.

The hosts, after winning the toss and batting first, made an imposing 207-7 from their 20 overs on a much-improved Sabina Park pitch.

Stand-in Captain Brandon King, who stood out with a top score of 79 in the first T20I, got the ball rolling quickly on Saturday with a 13-run third over off the bowling of Anrich Nortje, who South Africa brought in for this game in place of Gerald Coetzee.

Johnson Charles, playing his 50^th T20I, once again failed to make any inroads with the bat as he was first to fall, caught in the deep off the bowling of Bjorn Fortuin for seven.

Kyle Mayers joined the skipper and the pair brought the score up to 51-1 at the end of the first powerplay with King 35* off 20 balls and looking set for another big one and Mayers on nine from seven balls.

Unfortunately for the hosts and the Sabina Park crowd, King’s knock didn’t last much longer as he became the first T20I wicket for debutant Nqaba Peter when he was caught at long on for 36 in the seventh over.

Peter got his second wicket not long after when Mayers, after hitting a six the ball before, became the third West Indies batsman to get out caught in the deep. He made a 16-ball 32 including two fours and three sixes. The score at the time of his wicket was 83-3 with one ball left in the ninth over.

At the halfway point, the hosts were 88-3 with Roston Chase and Andre Fletcher at the crease on 10 and three, respectively.

The pair then batted beautifully to put on a further 56 in short time before Fletcher fell for 29 to leave the West Indies 139-4 with five overs left.

Not long after, Chase brought up an excellent maiden T20I fifty with a flat six over mid-wicket off Lungi Ngidi in the 17^th over. His milestone came off 30 balls.

The 19^th over proved to be the most crucial for the West Indies as a trio of sixes from Romario Shepherd brought the score past the 200 mark before he fell off the last ball of that over for 26 off just 13 balls.

In the end, Chase finished 67* off just 38 balls including seven fours and two sixes.

Peter was the pick of the South African bowlers with 2-32 from his four overs while Ngidi and Andile Phehlukwayo took 2-41 and 2-51 from their respective four over spells.

The start from South Africa then had Sabina Park silent as openers Reeza Hendricks and Quinton De Kock absolutely hammered the West Indian bowling around the park on the way to an opening partnership of 81 in the first five overs.

The last ball of that fifth over proved to be the start of the West Indian fightback as De Kock took one risk too many and was bowled by Akeal Hosein for 41 off just 17 balls including four fours and as many sixes.

Three balls later, one became two for the Windies as Reeza Hendricks, who made 87 in the first game on Thursday, was dismissed by Chase for 34 to leave the tourists 83-2 at the halfway point of the sixth over.

Ryan Rickelton and Matthew Breetzke then added a further 30 before the latter went for an ill-advised second run and was run out thanks to a brilliant throw from the deep mid-wicket boundary by Shamar Joseph for 12 off the penultimate ball of the 10^th over.

Rickelton was next to go, caught off the bowling of Romario Shepherd for 19 to leave the score at 124-4 off 12 overs.

Not long after, Andile Phehlukwayo fell to another brilliant piece of fielding from Joseph, this time a catch in the deep off the bowling of Gudakesh Motie for three to leave the South Africans reeling at 138-5 in the 15^th over.

Any chance South Africa had of pulling off the chase was dashed when Gudakesh Motie dismissed both Rassie Van Der Dussen (30) and Wiaan Mulder (9) in the 17^th over.

In the end, South Africa reached 191-7 from their 20 overs, 16 runs short of their target.

Motie ended with 3-22 from his four overs while Shepherd bowled a crucial spell with 1-21 from his four.

Chase, who was named man of the match, completed a fine all-round performance with 1-26 from his four overs.

Chase says the team has eyes on a series sweep.

“Obviously we’ve started the series well being 2-0 up but three is better than two. I just think it’s for us to look at some of the areas where we were weak today and plan to execute them better tomorrow and improve on the areas we did well in as well,” he said.

“The guys have been playing some good cricket, we just had a camp in Antigua and we’ve put in a lot of hard work so it’s just for us to come out and execute and mostly, enjoy the cricket. I think once you go out there to enjoy the cricket, it becomes a lot easier and takes a bit of pressure off of you so it’s just to go out there and have fun,” he added.

The third T20I is set for Sunday.