Linde and Fortuin's dream debut and Pandya brothers' scintillating show - The 1st T20I that never happened

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

09/15/2019

The Indian cricket season started off with a bang as the hosts marginally edged out South Africa in a nerve-wracking match which saw a last-over finish. India shrugged off Bjorn Fortuin’s heroics with the ball as India’s 'Brothers of Destruction' took Proteas bowlers apart with immaculate hitting.

Brief scores: India 164/6 in 19.4 overs (Hardik Pandya 55 and Fortuin 2/18) beat South Africa 162-7 off 20 overs (Linde 59 and Rahul Chahar 3/26) by 4 wickets.

Skipper Quinton sets the tone for the Proteas

After making a questionable decision of electing to bat first in conditions which favoured the bowlers - thanks to the weather - Quinton de Kock had the worst possible start to captaincy as Deepak Chahar trapped Reeza Hendricks in front of the stumps in just the third ball of the match. The wicket of Hendricks almost seemed to fire the newly-appointed skipper up as in the very next over, he smashed poor Khaleel Ahmed for four consecutive boundaries - this coming on the back of a wicket maiden by Chahar - setting the tone for the rest of the innings. The pair of de Kock and van der Dussen weathered the Chahar storm and milked the spinners Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar to race off to 68/1 in just 8 overs. But unfortunately for the visitors, the phase ended catastrophically as the duo indulged in a horrendous mix-up resulting in the run-out of the skipper. De Kock departed for a well-made 28-ball 42 and had laid the perfect platform for the batsmen down the order to launch.

Rahul Chahar and George Linde steal the show

After a forgettable debut and after going for 18 off his first two overs, the pressure was mounting on young Rahul Chahar. But four balls was all it took for the Rajasthan boy to turn things around as he sent the trio of van der Dussen (25), Temba Bavuma (5) and David Miller (0) back to the hut in a single over. The ball to Bavuma, in particular, was a leggie’s delight as bowling from over the wicket, Chahar castled the off-stump of the South African with a sharp turn. From 74/1, the Proteas was soon reduced to 75/4 and all hope seemed lost for the Men in Green. But well, they say special occasions are made for special players and today, it was debutant George Linde’s turn to steal the show. The leftie, as he’d shown in the ‘A’ series which preceded this one, launched a scathing attack on the Indian bowlers - notably smashing Krunal for 4 sixes in a single over - and brought up his fifty in just 22 balls. He was then dismissed by an off-cutter by Khaleel, but the damage had been done by then. Andile Phehlukwayo then played a handy cameo - an eight ball 18 - to propel the visitors to a fighting total of 162.

Iyer’s resilience keeps Rabada and Nortje’s rage at bay

Chasing 163 on a slow wicket was always going to be a tough ask and the task became even tougher for the Indians in the very first over. After smashing a six on the fifth ball of the over, Rohit Sharma (6) went for another extravagant hook on the final delivery of Rabada and was caught at fine-leg by debutant Bjorn Fortuine. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Anrich Nortje went through the defence of Dhawan (1) and clattered the stumps in the very next over to leave India tottering at 8-2. Of course, the presence of Kohli (2) ensured that there was a sense of calm amongst the Indian fans but that didn’t last long as Rabada trapped the Indian skipper in front to leave the Indians 11/3. But then came Shreyas Iyer, who almost looked like a man on a solitary mission of stopping the Proteas from invading Dharamsala. The Delhi Capitals skipper absorbed everything that was thrown at him and then latched onto Phehlukwayo as he took the all-rounder for no less than 19 runs in the seventh over. Along with Pant, he steadied the ship for India and 11/3 soon became 67/3 at the halfway mark, but a hell lot of work was still to be done.

The Pandya brothers pummel South Africa into submission

If, for India, it was Rahul Chahar, then for South Africa, it was Bjorn Fortuin. The left-armer, who had an exceptional ‘A’ tour, finally broke Iyer’s resistance in the twelfth over as his quicker delivery caught the latter off guard, trapping him plumb in front for a well made 48. Soon, a familiar sight was to follow as a wild Rishabh Pant (24) slog towards mid-wicket ended up straight into the hands of Miller, who thanked the Delhite for the present. The left-armer strangled the Indian middle-order and ended up with figures of 4-1-18-2 on debut. At 85/5 in15 overs, India looked down and out of the game, but as we mentioned before, special occasions are made for special players and now it was the turn of the Pandya brothers. With 78 runs needed off 30 balls, Hardik brought the avatar of his he’d showcased in the match against KKR earlier this year. He smacked an erratic Nortje for 25 runs off the 16th over and then a helpless Phehlukwayo for 16 of the next. He had plenty of help from his brother, too, who lapped Rabada for two consecutive sixes in the 18th over bringing the equation to 20 off 2 overs. But there was one final twist in the tale as Hardik (55) departed in the 19th over trying to upper-cut Nortje. With 8 runs needed off the final over, the game threatened to go the very last ball, but with an almost phlegmatic “I got this” attitude, Krunal (32*) dispatched Phehlukwayo’s slower ball into the stands to help India take a 1-0 lead in the series.