India vs South Africa 1st T20 highlights
India began with a bang as it won the first T20 International against South Africa, batting first to lay a solid foundation and then defending the target with an excellent bowling performance. The match played at Durban saw India take lead 1-0 in the series after a thrilling win.
India’s Dominant Batting Convulsion
India decided to bat first and set a target of 202runs against them, mostly due to Sanju Samson, who went on to devastate the opponent’s bowling with aggressive 017off 50 and found a great merger of aggression with precision. Support came from Surya kumar Yadav 21 off 17 and Tilak varma 33 of 18 in quick-fire that maintained the momentum. Well, South African bowlers Gerald Coetzee (3wickets) could pull out a few crucial breaks of the match, but such an authentically deep batting line up of India could manage to put up a challenging total on the board.
South Africa’s Chase And India’s Bowling Dominance
South Africa could not started well with their openers captain Markram out cheaply. Also, the Indian spin bowlers gained their rhythm. The middle overs were dominated by the exemplary bowling of Varun Chakravarthy (3-25), taking crucial wickets, while leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) actually put brakes on the flow of runs and built pressure. The required run rate was not matched by the batting from the middle order as they came up short with 61runs at the end.
Skipper’s Take
Indian skipper Surya kumar Yadav summed up the overall performance with, “Our batsmen speciallly sanju samson set a solid foundation. And the bowlers played their plans very well indeed. It is always lovely to start off a series on a winning note. And we look to just carry it forward from here.”.
South African captain Aiden Markram, meanwhile said, “India played a well-balanced game. We will focus on areas to be improved and try to make it level for the remaining matches.”
What next?
With this confident victory, India will lead the series 1-0 and will strive to carry the momentum forward. The South Africans are going to regroup and come back stronger in the second T20 slated for Centurion.
Match summary
India- 202-8(20.0)
Sanju Samson- 107 off 50 (6×10, 4×7).
Tilak Varma- 33 off 18 (6×2, 4×3).
Gerald Coetzee- 4-0-37-3
South Africa- 141-10(17.5)
Klaasen- 25 off 22 (6×1, 4×2)
Gerald Coetzee -23 off 11 (6×3)
Rickelton- 21 off 11 (6×1, 4×3)
Varun Chakravarthy – 4-0-25-3
Ravi Bishnoi- 4-0-28-3