IND vs SA 2022: Hits and flops as India ease past South Africa in the opening T20I

The Indian pacers demonstrated an excellent showing of swing bowling against South Africa in the first T20I in Thiruvananthapuram on September 28.

Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh wrecked the Proteas top-order to reduce them to 9/5 inside the first powerplay. The visitors stacked up some runs courtesy of lower-order resistance, helping them reach 106 at the end of their 20 overs.

The hosts faltered early on in the second innings as well, losing captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the powerplay. However, KL Rahul put a price on his wicket despite struggling to score freely.

He was brilliantly supported by the in-form Suryakumar Yadav, who smashed yet another half-century. Their partnership helped India register an eight-wicket win in the first T20I.

1-0 🇮🇳🇿🇦

Team India takes a lead in the three-match T20I series against South Africa with a comfortable win 🙌🏻

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In this article, we will take a look at the hits and flops from the one-sided game on Wednesday.

#4 Flop - Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli had an off day against South Africa [Pic Credit: BCCI]

The surface at the Greenfield International Stadium was a pacer-friendly pitch. It was going to be a tough ask for any batting unit as was already displayed in the first innings. The dangerous Proteas bowling replied in kind when the hosts came out to bat.

They dismissed Sharma and Kohli for a combined score of three, while troubling the other two (Yadav and Rahul) with dangerous deliveries.

South Africa are keeping themselves in the game as Virat Kohli gets out for just 3 runs 🏏

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What should be taken note of is the fact that while Sharma lost his wicket to a brilliant delivery, Kohli was dismissed to a rather poor ball. After allowing pressure to build on him in the powerplay (three runs in eight deliveries), Kohli threw his bat at a short ball outside the off-stump. The wild swipe caught the top edge, which was cleanly collected by Quinton de Kock, bringing a quick end to a struggling innings.

#3 Hit - Suryakumar Yadav

1st T20 International: India v South Africa

He has been India's go-to man in T20I this year. The Mumbai Indians star appeared to be batting on a different surface compared to his teammates. Although Rahul made an important contribution, his innings appeared to be a shadow at best to the fireworks displayed by Yadav.

Coming out to bat at 17/2 after 6.1 overs, he played his strokes with absurd ease to counter the pressure on the visitors.

He changes the match everytime he enters the crease 🙌🏻

Take A Bow 🫡

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His five boundaries and three sixes helped Yadav reach his half-century in just 33 deliveries.

#2 Flop - South African batting unit

1st T20 International: India vs South Africa

India's explosive start with the ball pushed the Proteas on the backfoot after the very first over. By the end of the third, South Africa had lost half their side and the writing was already on the wall.

While credit must go to the Indian seamers for bowling dangerous deliveries, the South African batters displayed very little application to stay at the crease.

Barring Aiden Markram, all Proteas batters failed to gauge the movement and bounce on the pitch, leading them to lose five wickets with just nine runs on the board.

The numbers show that four Proteas batters departed for nought while lower-order batter Keshav Maharaj top-scored for the visitors. It does paint a gloomy picture from a South African perspective.

#1 Hit - Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh took three wickets against South Africa [Pic Credit: BCCI]

Jasprit Bumrah's back injury allowed Deepak Chahar to make his way into the starting XI. The all-rounder, along with Arshdeeep, blew through the Proteas top-order.

While the wicket supported their seam bowling, the Indian pacers also executed their plans brilliantly. A perfect example was the wicket of Proteas captain Temba Bavuma. After setting up the South African skipper with five out-swinging deliveries, Chahar delivered the perfect in-swinger in the sixth ball which castled Bavuma.

Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw and David Miller were then dismissed in the space of one over by Arshdeep Singh. It was pace bowling at its finest as the left-armer rocked the Proteas top-order.

Arshdeep Singh won the “Player of the Match” for his top spell 🇮🇳🙌🏻

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Chahar followed up his first over with another wicket in his second to remove the dangerous Tristan Stubbs.