IND vs SA | Twitter impressed as Hardik Pandya and disciplined bowling attack power India in first T20I

Venkateswaran N

ByVenkateswaran N,SportsCafe Editor

13

India beat South Africa by 101 runs in the first of the five-match T20I series in Cuttack on Tuesday. Hardik Pandya scored a swashbuckling half-century to help the side to a formidable total before Arshdeep Singh led an incisive bowling display from the home side to pull off a clinical win.

Hardik Pandya

‌Hardik Pandya made an impressive return from injury, powering India to a 101-run win in the first T20I against South Africa in Cuttack on Tuesday. The all-rounder’s unbeaten half-century took the team out of the woods to a formidable 175/6 before a disciplined bowling display from the home side made it a no-contest.

After being put in to bat at the Barabati Stadium, India started on the back foot, losing opener Shubman Gill and captain Suryakumar Yadav inside three overs with the score reading just 17. Though they ended the powerplay scoring 40 runs without further loss of wickets, the left-handed duo of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma departed soon after to put the home side at a bothering 78/4 with more than eight overs remaining to play. However, Pandya’s counter-attacking knock was exactly what the doctor asked for, as he rebuilt the innings first with Axar Patel (23) to take the side past the 100-run mark. The Mumbai Indians skipper started with a six off Keshav Maharaj in only his second ball en route to a 25-ball half-century. He smashed four sixes and six fours during his unbeaten knock of 59 off 28 balls as the side plundered 71 runs in the last six overs. For the visitors, Lungi Ngidi stood out with a spell of 3/31 in four overs, while Lutho Sipamla picked up two wickets.

In return, the Proteas innings did not take off on the right note as they lost in-form opener Quinton de Kock to Arshdeep Singh in just the second ball of the innings. Though skipper Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs showed promise briefly, neither lasted long as the visitors were reduced to 45/3 at the end of the six-over powerplay. Things went further south as David Miller was dismissed by Pandya with his first ball of the game, immediately after the field restrictions were lifted. From then on, the match was going only one way, with the Proteas being skittled out for just 74 runs with more than seven overs remaining. Dewald Brevis ended up as the top run-getter for the visitors with three fours and a six in his 14-ball 22. Meanwhile, Arshdeep led an all-round bowling performance with an excellent spell of 2/14 upfront, with Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, and Axar Patel all chipping in with two wickets apiece.

 Ind Win!

Boom!

maximum!

No Ball or not!

Century!

Comeback!

Well played!

Yeah!

Clutch pandya!

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