IND vs SA 2024, 1st T20I: Who won yesterday’s India vs South Africa match?
India beat South Africa by 61 runs in yesterday's T20I at Kingsmead in Durban. Sent into bat by the Proteas, the Men in Blue put up 202-8 as Sanju Samson (107 off 50) notched up his second consecutive T20I ton. In response, the hosts were bowled out for 141 in 17.5 overs as spinners Varun Chakravarthy (3-25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) starred with the ball.
Batting first, India lost opener Abhishek Sharma for seven as the left-hander miscued a big hit off Gerald Coetzee. Samson and skipper Suryakumar Yadav, though, added 66 for the second wicket, with the former being the dominant partner. Samson struck seven fours and as many as 10 sixes in his brilliant knock.
The second-wicket partnership ended when Suryakumar (21 off 17) whipped a length ball from Patrick Kruger to deep square leg. Samson found another able partner in Tilak Varma (33 off 18) as the duo featured in a quickfire 77-run stand for the third wicket.
Varma's impressive cameo ended when he was caught at the deep square leg fence off Keshav Maharaj. Samson was the next to go. His magnificent knock came to an end when he was caught at deep midwicket off Nqabayomzi Peter. It was one of the rare deliveries that Samson failed to time.
South Africa made a strong comeback following Samson's dismissal. India lost five wickets for 27 runs to slip from 175-3 to 202-8. Pacer Coetzee was the standout bowler for the Proteas, registering figures of 3-37.
South Africa's batting stumbles in huge chase
Chasing 203, South Africa lost their skipper Aiden Markram (8) in the first over. Having struck a couple of boundaries, he nicked a full ball from Arshdeep Singh to the keeper. Tristan Stubbs (11) was the next to go, chipping a back of length delivery from Avesh Khan to mid-off.
Ryan Rickelton (21), Heinrich Klaasen (25) and David Miller (18) got starts and looked in impressive touch, but all of them fell to Chakravarthy. Bishnoi then ran through the Proteas lower-order with three scalps before Avesh ended the game by knocking over Maharaj for 5.
Who was the Player of the Match in yesterday’s India vs South Africa 1st T20I?
Samson was sensational with the bat for India, smacking seven fours and 10 sixes in his 107. With the ball, leggies Chakravarthy and Bishnoi chipped in with three scalps apiece. For South Africa, Coetzee picked up three wickets and scored 23 off 11. Samson, though, was the easy choice for Player of the Match for his scintillating ton.