In the first T20 match between South Africa and India, Sanju Samson shone and smashed 107 runs from 50 balls with an impressive strike rate of 214, he smashed 10 6’s in his innings. It was an overcast condition in Durban and the South African skipper Aiden Markram decided to bowl first and use the moisture of the pitch.
India lost their first wicket in the face of Abhishekh Sharma in the 4th over, skipper Suryakumar Yadav made a partnership of 66 runs with Samson in just 37 balls. The 29-year-old keeper batsman kept going and formed an outstanding partnership of 77(34). Sanju Samson became the first-ever Indian batsman to score two consecutive T20I tons. Despite the lack of batting depth, India goes hard on South Africa and puts on a good total of 202 runs in 20 overs.
Indian batsmen smashed all the South African bowlers all over the park, but Marco Jansen was the most economical bowler for the hosts with figures of 1/24. Gerald Coetzee was the highest wicket-taker for the Markram-led side.
During the chase, the South African side lost their skipper in the very first over, and the wickets kept falling for the chasing side. David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen were looking good until Varun Chakaravarthy got the big wicket of Klassen in the 12th over, and he also got the wicket of Miller in the same over and almost ended the game for the hosts.
The young Indian team showed complete dominance with bat and ball against World Cup runner-ups and took a lead by 1-0 in the four-match T20I series.
“The amount of hard work he has done in the last 10 years, doing the boring work, he is eating the fruits of that. He was in the 90s but still, he was looking for a boundary, playing for the team and shows the character of the man and that’s what we look for,” Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said.
In the post-match presentation, South African captain Aiden Markram said: “Both new balls did a bit with the extra bounce, it was consistent in the two innings. Once the newish ball wore out, it played well. Sanju played incredibly well, put our bowlers under pressure, plans to negate him and better plans will help us going forward. Once he is striking like that, it’s pretty hard to stop and you take your hat off to him”.
The second T20I will take place on Sunday 10th November at St George’s Oval.
Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
