A drama unfolded in the ongoing third and final ODI in Visakhapatnam when India’s Tilak Verma warned South Africa’s Matthew Bretzke not to mankad. This happened after 23.2 overs, when Tilak bowled a slower, leg-line ball. Bretzke drives it well to long-on and manages to take a single.
As Tilak started the run-up to the next ball, Bretzke was already out of his crease, forcing the Indian off-spinner to stay in the middle.
Tilak Verma gives Mankad’s sarcastic warning to Matthew Britzke in Visakhapatnam
Tilak Verma went up to the South African batsman and spoke for a while, giving him a clear warning about leaving the crease too early. Replays confirmed that Bretzke stepped back too far, and the Indian star was just making sure the batsman was aware of the rules.
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Now, pictures and clips of Tilak’s cheeky warning to the Proteas star went viral on social media as the umpire himself couldn’t stop laughing at the non-striker’s end.
Tilak Verma scares Britzke for Mankad pic.twitter.com/KCDLdlA77L
– Bittuji (@Crickaith) 6 December 2025
After the drama, when Tilkar returned to bowl the 26th over, Bretzke welcomed the youngster with consecutive sixes in the decider of the ongoing ODI series. Britzke immediately punished Tilak with a powerful slog-sweep shot.
Staying slightly towards the leg side, the Proteas batsman found space and hit the ball over the long-on fielder for a brilliant six. In the very next delivery, Bretzke took a few steps forward, got close to the ball and lifted it straight over Tilak’s head, the ball going over the long-on fielder for another six.
Tilak Verma replaces Washington Sundar in the third ODI; Matthew Britzke flopped under pressure
However, he later conceded only four runs off the remaining balls to Bretzke. Meanwhile, Tilak Verma returned to India’s playing XI for the decider of the ongoing ODI series in Visakhapatnam as the hosts dropped Washington Sundar after poor performances in the first two ODIs in Ranchi and Raipur. However, Sundar was not used much with the ball in those games.
Also read: Prasidh Krishna literally demolished Quinton de Kock’s stumps in Visakhapatnam ODI
Tilak has bowled 3 overs so far and has given 29 runs. On the other hand, Bretzke could only manage 24 runs off 23 balls against India and fell victim to Prasidh Krishna, although he had earlier shown the confidence to shine in his new role in the Proteas ODI line-up.
Before the Visakhapatnam ODI, Matthew Britzke had said, “Now I’m getting more experience batting at number four, and I’m starting to feel a little more comfortable in this role. So that helps, and I think the more I play at number four and in this role, hopefully the better I get.”
South Africa eyes historic double on Indian soil
Well, South Africa has a chance to do something special on Indian soil on 6th December. They have already defeated India 2-0 in the recent Test series, and now they are close to winning the ODI series too after leveling the series 1-1 with a four-wicket win in the Raipur game.
India don’t often lose on home soil, and it is extremely rare for them to lose both a Test series and an ODI series on the same tour, but this team could create history. The last time this happened was almost four decades ago, so South Africa is on the verge of a historic double in Visakhapatnam.
