South Africa vs India, 1st T20I- 5 Talking Points

The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg has been a witness to a couple of jaw-dropping encounters during India’s ongoing tour of South Africa. After a scintillating Test match and the Pink ODI, the teams dished out another enthralling encounter.

Both sides played exceptionally, however, India came out trumps and thrashed the hosts by 28 runs at the iconic stadium. Subsequently, they took a 1-0 lead in the series. South Africa won the toss and JP Duminy had no hesitation whatsoever to chase on the batting paradise.

Nevertheless, India laid into the Proteas attack and racked up 203 runs. South Africa strained every muscle during their run-chase. However, a flurry of wickets restricted the Proteas and they were comprehensively humbled. Let’s take you through the five intriguing moments from the series-opener.

#1 Suresh Raina’s recklessly entertaining cameo

Suresh Raina made his comeback to the Indian team after a year and quite expectantly, the spotlight was on the Uttar Pradesh cricketer. He took charge after Junior Dala’s maiden international wicket in the form of Rohit Sharma and made his intentions clear from the outset.

He stomped in and went hammer and tongs from the word go. The left-handed batsman opened his account with a single. However, thereafter, he smashed a short-pitched delivery off Dane Paterson over mid-wicket for a six.

In the next delivery, he survived an almighty scare as the ball evaded the cover fielder and trickled away to the boundary. In Dala’s second over, he smashed one for another boundary, however, ran out of luck and perished for 15 runs off seven balls to a mistimed pull-shot off the same bowler.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan shepherds India

Shikhar Dhawan has shown exemplary form in the recently concluded ODI series and he has carried forward his form in the T20I series as well. He showed fluency during his knock and was hardly ruffled by the Proteas bowlers.

He hardly mistimed any deliveries and piled on the agony for the South Africans with some dexterous strokes across the entire circumference of the ground. The Delhi cricketer top-scored for the Men in Blue with a knock of 72 runs off 39 balls, which included ten boundaries and a couple of humungous hits into the stands.

He was eventually dismissed in the 15th over by Andile Phehlukwayo when the opener tried to scoop one over fine-leg only to find Heinrich Klaasen’s webbings behind the wickets.

#3 South Africa’s lacklustre fielding

Catching the ball has been a major concern for South Africa during India’s innings. They dropped three catches in aggregate. Though they didn’t have to shell out a hefty price for the grassed opportunities, it’s an aspect which requires attention ahead of the upcoming games of the series.

Farhaan Behardien dropped Suresh Raina when he tried to grasp a catch running backwards. Thereafter, Behardien dropped a sitter at mid-wicket when Virat Kohli mistimed a pull shot off Tabraiz Shamsi’s chinaman bowling.

However, to Behardien’s relief, Kohli was pinned in front of the stumps by Shamsi after a couple of overs. During the death overs, Shamsi himself spilt a catch at short-fine leg when Manish Pandey attempted to clear the infield.

#4 Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s masterclass

Bhuvneshwar Kumar churned out his best-bowling figures in T20Is with a magnificent five-wicket haul. He was exceptional with the new ball and during the death overs as South Africa struggled to counter him. He churned out the wickets of Jon-Jon Smuts and JP Duminy to ruffle the Proteas.

Apart from a couple of wickets, Kumar also bowled economically and conceded 19 runs in his opening spell of three overs. He started his second spell with the vital wicket of Reeza Hendricks in the 17th over when the opener attempted to heave the ball only to find MS Dhoni’s webbings.

The Uttar Pradesh fast-bowler nipped out Heinrich Klaasen’s wicket in the same over to further dent South Africa’s chances. Morris became Kumar’s fifth victim in the fifth ball of Kumar’s last over. The pacer eventually returned with figures of 4-0-24-5.

#5 Reeza Hendricks valiant effort goes in vain

Reeza Hendricks opened the innings for South Africa and was expected to lay a foundation for a stupendous run-chase. He started off with some blistering shots to kick-start proceedings for South Africa. However, wickets pushed them the Proteas back on the back foot.

The onus lied on Hendricks to guide the hosts to safer shores.  He blended caution with aggression and stitched together a partnership of 81 runs off 54 balls with Behardien. Meanwhile, Hendricks accomplished his maiden half-century in T20Is.

After Behardien’s dismissal, Hendricks carried on and eventually scored 70 runs off 50 balls. However, he perished to Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s brilliance in the death overs. South Africa capitulated alarmingly thereafter and lost wickets in heaps.