India vs South Africa 1st T20I - 5 Talking Points of the match

India vs South Africa 1^st T20i – 5 Talking Points: In what proved to be a slugfest for the batsmen, South Africa overcame a stiff target of 200 to go 1 up in the 3 match series. The match had moments of individual brilliance from the bat. While Rohit lit up the stadium with an entertaining century, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy played aggressive knocks to help South Africa chase down the target. This is South Africa’s 3^rd victory against India in T20I’s, and the first time ever that they have successfully chased down a target against India.

Following an entertaining match, here are the 5 Talking Points of the match

1. Rohit Sharma’s Brilliance

Some of the fans admire his sheer lazy elegance while others hate him for his tendency to underperform. But love him or hate him, one has to appreciate his brilliance when he gets going. And that‘s exactly he did today. Despite taking a couple of overs to get settled, and being partially responsible for running out Dhawan, Rohit blew off the South African bowlers. And none of them were spared. Today’s incredible innings of 106 from Rohit Sharma is the exact reason as to why he is rated so highly, especially in Indian conditions. Seeing this start from him, one can expect that he just improves upon this performance.

2. The unstoppable Kohli:

For a person to complete 1000 runs in 27 innings, that too in T20 cricket, is no mean feat. By achieving the landmark today, the first Indian to do so, Kohli shows his versatility across the formats. Though today he did not take the spotlight, preferring to play the second fiddle to rampant Rohit.  But he will be expected to score more often than not henceforth in the coming matches.

3. South Africa banking on the IPL effect:

It was pretty obvious from the fact that South African team will have an easier time in the shorter formats due to familiarity in the conditions, and their batting performance showed exactly why.  Despite having a humungous target over their heads, the South Africa were never really out of the game. De Villers got off to a blazing start, with Amla supporting him well. In spite of losing 3 wickets in quick succession, Duminy and Berhardien held their nerves pretty well. And the former has quite an amount of IPL experience under his belt. And as far as the bowling is concerned, following today’s performance they will be wary in the longer formats, wherein the pitch factor will be more prevalent. But considering the return of Steyn and Morkel in the ODIs and Tests, two more players with ample amount of IPL experience, these core players will be expected to exploit their experience in India.

4. Death overs makes all the difference:

Despite needing about 35 in 3 overs, the South Africans managed to chase down the target with 2 balls to spare. And India, post the dismissal of Rohit Sharma just before the end of 16^th over, made just 37 in the final 4 overs. Eventually, the performance of the batsmen from the respective team at these crucial junctures eventually decided the fate of the match. A mini-collapse from the Indian batting order did not help India’s cause, whereas some cool nerves from experienced Duminy and Berhardien helped South Africa close in on the target without much of a fuss.

5. India’s pace bowling woes:

After the first T20i, the large question which pops into our mind is whether India really have a pace attack to trouble the South African batsmen? Especially in flatter or spin friendly pitches which will be rolled out? While Umesh Yadav comes back into the team for ODIs, he cannot be considered as economical of sorts. It will be interesting as to how Dhoni will proceed for the coming matches and the ODIs. Will Sreenath Aravind, who was literally picked out of obscurity, be retained? Or will Dhoni emphasize more on spinners? That is to be seen.