India registered a big eight-wicket win over South Africa in the first T20I match on Wednesday. Indian bowlers, particularly pacers, restricted the Proteas' innings to just 106/8 in 20 overs after the impressive performance while bowling first. Then KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav smashed fifties to guide India to an easy win to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at home.
South African captain Temba Bavuma lost the toss and was asked to bat first at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Deepak Chahar gave India a flying start by dismissing Bavuma in the first over on duck. Arshadeep continued that momentum and took three big wickets of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw, and David Miller in the next over.
Deepak dismissed Tristan Stubbs on a golden duck and South Africa were struggling on just 9/5 in just 2.3 overs. But Aiden Markram and Wayne Parnell formed a small but crucial 33-run partnership for the sixth wicket to avoid an embarrassing fall. Markram scored 25 runs off 24 balls before getting out on Harshal Patel's delivery in the eighth over and Wayne Parnell scored 24 runs.
Keshav Maharaj scored the highest 41 runs off 35 balls and guided South Africa to a respectable 106/8 total in 20 overs. For India, Arshdeep took three and Deepak and Harshal grabbed two wickets each.
KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav stood firm in India's chase
South African pacers also received some extra pace and bounce from the pitch which troubled the Indian top-order. The star pacer Kagiso Rabada dismissed Indian captain Rohit Sharma on duck in the third over to give the visitors an early opening. The speedster Anrich Nortje then took a big wicket of Virat Kohli in the seventh over to put some pressure on team India.
But Rahul and Suryakumar remained firm in India's chase and formed an unbeaten match-winning partnership of 93 runs for the third wicket. Suryakumar smashed 50 runs off just 30 balls and Rahul scored the highest 51 runs off 56 balls to take India to an easy eight-wicket win with 20 balls to spare.
Losing Captain, Temba Bavuma said:
As a batting unit, we failed to apply ourselves, We weren't able to adjust our plans. We saw what Rahul was able to do. [Surface] We didn't expect that, we practiced here two days, ago. We saw the wicket was spicy, but we didn't expect it like that. You expected to hit through the line coming to India. [Three seamers?] Hard to say. Three seamers on that type of wicket you back yourself. To be defending that type of score, you always hope for a miracle. The bating we need to work , and give the bowlers something to defend. Guys like Parni, and Keshav, they showed good fight. The fight was on, but at the end of the day, there weren't too many runs.
Winning Captain, Rohit Sharma said:
When you play a game like that you learn a lot. It was nice to play a game like that. [Surface] Not really, not so much. We knew there will be something for the bowlers, but not through the 20 overs we bowled. It was sticky, there was still dampness, and it stayed throughout. There was no sun so it makes it difficult to hit. Both teams were in the contest. We got wickets upfront, and that was the turning point. No matter what the conditions, you still have to execute your plans. When you swing the ball like that any batter will struggle. 107, we knew it was not going to be that easy. We got to respect the conditions at times, understand what shots can be played. We lost two wickets, but that partnership was crucial.
Player of the Match, Arshdeep Singh said:
Have been thinking about the Man of the Match speech and was excited. There was a lot of help from the surface, and DC (Deepak Chahar) bhai set the tone and I just wanted to execute the plans. Loved the wicket of David Miller, he was expecting the outswinger, but I got that to swing in. So that was great. [Death overs] We wanted to take his [Keshav Maharaj] wicket, but he batted well. We could have had a different plan but we won the match, and that's what matters. Have trained hard at the NCA, and want to perform well going forward.
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