IND vs SA 2022: "At one point, it seemed as if South Africa will win the match by a huge margin" - Aakash Chopra praises Team India's fightback led by Sanju Samson

Former India player Aakash Chopra showered praise on Sanju Samson for dragging the team back into the game during their narrow nine-run loss against South Africa in the first ODI in Lucknow on Thursday (October 6). The wicket-keeper batter scored an unbeaten 86 off 63 deliveries after coming into bat in the lower middle order.

India were in disarray while chasing 250 in a rain-curtailed encounter. They were reduced to 51-4 md staring at a huge loss. A 67-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson kept India alive in the contest.

A valiant unbeaten 8⃣6⃣* from @IamSanjuSamson nearly got #TeamIndia over the line as he is our Top Performer from the second innings 👌

A look at his batting summary 👇 #INDvSA

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/INDVSA-1STODI https://t.co/Xc8D6lqRby

After Iyer fell, Samson shared another crucial partnership with Shardul Thakur to take India close to an improbable win. Praising Samson for leading the fightback, Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel:

"India just fell a little short. Had they won the match, it would have been completely against the run of play."

Chopra added:

"At one point, it seemed as if South Africa will win the match by a huge margin. Samson batted really well and obviously took the game close."

The series opener against the Proteas was Samson's first ODI on home soil. Having played eight ODIs since his debut in 2021, Samson averages 65.50 in the format.

"249 was not a bad score on this pitch" - Aakash Chopra

Brief spells of rain in the afternoon of the first ODI between India and South Africa meant that the playing conditions had to be revised. The game was reduced to 40 overs per side as a result of the delayed start at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

Things went right down to the wire but it's South Africa who win the first #INDvSA ODI.

#TeamIndia will look to bounce back in the second ODI. 👍

Scorecard ▶️ bit.ly/INDVSA-1STODI https://t.co/RUcF80h2Xv

Due to the cloud cover, there was enough movement for the seamers to trouble the batters, and the spinners had their say with a good amount of turn assisting them.

South Africa were on the ropes after being reduced to 110-4, but an unbeaten partnership of 139 between Heinrich Klassen and David Miller propelled South Africa to a competitive total of 249.

Opining that it was a good score on such a surface, Chopra said:

"249 was not a bad score on this pitch. There were plenty of good performances from both sides in this match. Miller and Klassen played almost an identical knock, Thakur and Iyer made an impact while Samson almost won India the game."

The South African bowlers put in a rather decent shift to silence the Indian top order batters and defend their total to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Shikhar Dhawan's side will take on the visitors in the second game on Sunday (October 9) in Ranchi.

Should India have chased down 250 in the first ODI? Let us know what you think.