New Delhi: India’s outshined South Africa Wednesday evening to win the match by eight wickets, chasing a target of 107 in 16.4 overs. The teams are now into their final T20 series, before the big T20 World Cup.
The ongoing series comes three months after a five-match T20 series between the two countries ended in a draw, with the final match being washed out. Both teams are also riding on big wins against Australia and Ireland respectively in their last T20 series.
On Wednesday, neither of the batting sides was however at their best. Thiruvanthampuram’s green pitch supported the pacers but Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul & Keshav Maharaj were exceptions. In an unusual phenomenon, with both teams having better T20 records against each other in away matches, South Africa had an edge.
ThePrint looks at some key talking points from the first T20I.
1. Top 5 South Africa wickets: 4 ducks & 1 run
Nine runs for five wickets is how the South African team stood at 2.3 over mark of the powerplay, until Aiden Markram, Wayne Parnell and most of all, Maharaj, came in to save the sinking ship but it would never have been enough. The collapse was led by captain Temba Bavuma as he returns after an injury and a snub from SA20 auctions (franchise Twenty20 cricket league). Quinton de Kock, who has averaged 6 runs in the last 5 international matches, scored one of four balls.
2. Indian pacers shine even with no Bumrah
Concerns around ace pacer Jaspreet Bumrah’s fitness have haunted the Indian team ahead of the world cup. But Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar and Harshal Patel didn’t let Bumrah be missed. Powerful swing complemented with a green pitch destroyed the South African batting top order. Chahar and Singh took 5 wickets in the first three overs of the match alone.
3. Ashwin & Patel give 24 runs in 8 overs
Spinners, led by R. Ashwin, gave 24 runs at an average of 3 runs per over in 8 overs. Out of these, Ashwin gave only 8 runs in his 4 overs as he replaced Yuzvendra Chahal in the squad after sitting on the bench for the series against Australia.
4. Rabada’s swing forces lowest powerplay score for India
Kagiso Rabada was ready for a challenge, sending Rohit Sharma for a duck and giving away 6 runs off 3 powerplay overs. Kohli and Rahul were visibly struggling to read Rabada during the power play, resulting in India’s lowest ever score in power plays at 17/1. It was his swing that also forced the captain to place three slips in a T20 match.
5. SKY’s consistency & Rahul’s determinants steer game
In a match where none of the batsmen found themselves comfortable, Suryakumar Yadav’s back-to-back 50 was an exception. K L Rahul, who struggled at 7 runs in 18 balls and 22 off 38, ended the match with 6 – scoring 51 off 56 balls. It was this partnership that took on the bowlers on a day when bowlers controlled the game.
After India handed over the bat to the South Africans, spectators at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram saw the first Indian win in a full T20 international match. South Africans lost their first match since the 2021 T20 World Cup, batting first.
Also read: UK media’s ‘mankad’ meltdown — after controversial ODI runout, why Deepti Sharma story won’t rest
Source: The Print
