India speedsters put on a collective show before KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav led the run-chase to down South Africa by eight wickets in the first T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
In stark contrast to the recent three-match T20I series between India and Australia, the India vs South Africa series had a low-scoring start, with batters challenged by the extravagant pace, bounce and movement in the first T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on September 18.
Having been put in to bat, the visitors were rocked right at the start, with Deepak Chahar setting it up against Temba Bavuma. The right-arm quick bowled three outswingers first up before ratting the South Africa captain’s stumps with a sharp inswinger that breached his defence.
Arshdeep Singh had Quinton de Kock drag one onto his stumps in the next over, and induced an outside edge off an in-form Rilee Rossouw, before David Miller was undone by one that came in on the very first ball he faced, in what was almost a mirror-image of Bavuma’s dismissal.
Tristan Stubbs smashed one to Arshdeep at third-man off Chahar in the next over, with the Proteas down at 9/5 midway through the third over. Aiden Markram countered swing with some sublime drives but was undone by Harshal Patel, who trapped him leg-before for 25.
Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel ensured that the opposiion were put under sustained pressure and returned a highly economical 0/8 and 1/16 in their four-overs spell.
It was Keshav Maharaj’s 41 off 35, featuring five fours and two sixes, that helped South Africa finish 106/8 in the allotted 20 overs. Arshdeep’s returns of 3/32 were somewhat ruined by the 17 runs he conceded in the penultimate over, while Chahar and Harshal bagged two wickets each.
The India top-order, too, found it increasingly difficult against the new ball, with Kagiso Rabada having Rohit Sharma caught behind with a brilliant outswinger after having bowled a maiden at KL Rahul. Such was the discipline from Rabada and Wayne Parnell that India could manage just 17/1 in the first six, their lowest score after powerplay in T20Is.
Anrich Nortje had Virat Kohli edge one behind off a rather loose stroke, and welcomed Suryakumar with a pacy short delivery. A thick leading edge on an attempted flick off the next ball flew over the third-man for a six, and the second-ranked T20I batter got one right soon after, sending one deep over the long-leg fence.
Suryakumar was easily the best batter on show, keeping the scoreboard moving with timely boundaries, and Rahul struggled for timing at the other end. The two were largely at ease against spinners Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi and went on to add an unbeaten 93 to see India home with 20 balls remaining.
Suryakumar struck five fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 50 off 33, while Rahul’s 51* off 56 featured two hits to the fence and four over it, including the winning hit of Shamsi over the backward square-leg.
Arshdeep, who was named the Player of the Match for his game-setting spell, said:
“I am refreshed, had a good training session at NCA and hopefully I give such performances moving forward as well.”
The second T20I will be played in Guwahati on October 2.
Brief scores
South Africa 106/8 in 20 overs (Maharaj 41; Singh 3-32, Chahar 2-24) lost to India 110/2 in 16.4 overs (KL Rahul 51*, Yadav 50*; Rabada 1/16) by eight wickets.
