India defeated South Africa by eight wickets in the opening Thiruvananthapuram T20I on Wednesday. As the hosts have drawn first blood in the three-game series, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav, along with the bowlers, shone.
It was a composed performance by Team India in the opening Twenty20 International against South Africa at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. While the hosts lead the three-match series 1-0 with this eight-wicket win, it will be proud of its batters, as wicketkeeper-opener KL Rahul and middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav lived to their expectations and delivered. However, it was the Indian bowling that created headlines, rattling half of the visiting South African side on a green track that saw the ball moving erratically, much to the dismay and horror of the Proteas. As a result, social media expressed its joy for the Men in Blue.
Job well done ✅
A 93-run partnership between Rahul (51*) & SKY (50*) give India a 1-0 lead over the Proteas 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NgzpcJBXGZ
Winning the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma opted to field. At the same time, he rested pacer Jasprit Bumrah and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal to bring in young wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin. The decision to field was perfect as the pacers, especially Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh, proved to be a nightmare for the South Africans.
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Slowest men's T20I fifty by Indians:
56 balls - KL Rahul v SA, today
54 balls - Gautam Gambhir v AUS, 2012
Half of the visitors' side was dismissed by the third over of the Powerplay with just nine runs scored, its lowest PP total in the format. However, Aiden Markram (25) and Wayne Parnell (24) added 33 runs for the sixth wicket to start the recovery innings for the Proteas. In the eighth, the former was trapped leg-before by pacer Harshal Patel, while the latter fell to leg-spinner Axar Patel in the 16th, at 68/7.
🏏👏 CRUCIAL KNOCK! KL Rahul played well to take us across the line in difficult conditions.
📸 BCCI • pic.twitter.com/2zKRiYU8TX
Another 33-run partnership ensued, this time between Keshav Maharaj (41) and Kagiso Rabada (7*), before the former was knocked over by Harshal in the final over, as South Africa finished on a below-par total of 106/8. For India, Arshdeep grabbed three, while off-spinner Ashwin was economical.
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Batting clicked vs Australia, so it was good to see the bowlers step up at the start of a new series. This was a complete team bowling effort.
PS: Team should buy Rohit dinner for winning this imp toss. Batting first here wouldn't have been ideal 😅
In reply, India was down to 17/2 by the seventh over. It had lost opener Rohit (0) to pacer Rabada in the third over of the PP, at nine. It finished the PP with 17 runs on the board, its lowest in the phase to date. Nevertheless, Rahul (51*) and Yadav (50*) got the job done by putting on the unbeaten winning stand of 93, with both scoring their 31st and 16th T20I half-centuries, respectively.
Blink and miss a moment! 👀 pic.twitter.com/X6Zi5EtSYf
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders)While the Men in Blue got it all done by the 17th over, thanks to the pitch getting better, the toss turned out to be a good one to win. As for the Protea bowlers, pacer Parnell was the most economical for his side.
Brief scores: SA 106/8 (Maharaj- 41; Arshdeep- 3/32) lost to IND 110/2 in 16.4 overs (Rahul- 51*, Yadav- 50*; Rabada- 1/16) by eight wickets.
In T20Is, first Indian to score
100 runs in a year - Gambhir
200 runs in a year - Gambhir
300 runs in a year - Yuvraj
400 runs in a year - Kohli
500 runs in a year - Kohli
600 runs in a year - Kohli
700 runs in a year - Suryakumar* |