New Delhi: India 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. Thiruvananthapuram’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
5. SKY’s consistency & Rahul’s determinants steer game
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