5 talking points from the 1st ODI between India and South Africa
South Africa proving too strong to defeatAt Green Park in Kanpur, the game was scheduled for a 9 am start as it gets dark early in the evening. The toss was won by De Villiers who chose to bat first; Dhoni wanted to bowl first, hence both teams got what they desired from the toss. Interestingly, SA has won all the tosses in the series right from the warm up game.Indian bowling yet again failed as Team SA heaped 303 runs in 50 overs with a speedy ton from De Villiers. In reply, after losing Dhawan, Rohit made 150 runs before getting out. There were 5 incidences which have become the talking points from this match.
#1 AB de Villiers\' Fast & Furious 104
The Number 1 ranked batsman in the ICC ODI rankings was at full steam in the Kanpur ODI as he made 104 runs at a staggering strike rate of 142. Now there’s a huge difference between simply scoring a ton at a strike rate of 80 or less and scoring at De Villier’s pace. What ABD does is break the bowlers’ confidence by piling runs at that speed.
South Africa made an average start with openers back in the hut sooner than they would have hoped for. At 23.2 overs, Amla got out and AB De Villiers came in at number 4. He smashed 6 sixes and 5 fours, most of which came in the On side of the field. ABD was on 98 while facing the 300th delivery of the SA innings when Umesh Yadav’s length ball was dispatched over the ropes to reach his century in a dramatic way.
There are not many instances when Indian spectators show pleasure and joy for the opposition batsman’s century and this was one of those instances.