Johannesburg, Feb 18: Team India carried forward their winning momentum from the ODIs to the T20Is as they registered a comprehensive 28-run win over South Africa in the 1st encounter here on Sunday (February 18).
With this win, the Men In Blue went 1-0 up in the three-match series as they completely dominated the Proteas in every department of the game.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with his career-best 5/24 as a clinical Indian bowling line-up restricted the Proteas to 175/9 after Shikhar Dhawan's explosive innings of 39-ball 72 powered the visitors to 203/5 in the stipulated 20 overs.
What a fantastic start to the T20I series by #TeamIndia🇮🇳 Excellent batting from @SDhawan25 and very clever blowing by @BhuviOfficial to wrap things up. Let's aim for more such performances. #SAvIND
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) February 18, 2018
With enough runs on the board, though the Indians fell 20-25 odds runs short as they couldn't make it big in the death overs, that created plenty of pressure for the Proteas and they fell short of the visitors' score by 28 runs.
Chasing 200-plus wasn't going to be an easy task for the hosts as they had to swing from the start. But the brilliance of India's most skilled bowlers (Bhuvneshwar and Jasprit Bumrah) and the absence of seasoned pros AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis proved too hot for the hosts to handle.
Well begun is half done. Great start to the T20 series. Great striking from @SDhawan25 and brilliant bowling by the trickster @BhuviOfficial . Great victory #SAvsIND pic.twitter.com/TxfeAEUjFO
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 18, 2018
Bhuvneshwar was outstanding with the new ball as he got the visitors their two breakthroughs in the first six overs and kept things under control. The Uttar Pradesh pacer removed JJ Smuts (14) and skipper JP Duminy (3) in his first spell and came back strongly in his final over to get three more wickets.
The 28-year-old removed dangerous Reeza Hendricks for 70 and punctured the visitor's hopes of pulling it off in the run chase. The right-handed pacer proved why he's most lethal with the white ball as he grabbed two more wickets in the same over.
Congratulations India on another clinical victory. Brilliant innings from Shikhar and another wonderful spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a five wicket haul. #SAvsIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 18, 2018
Heinrich Klaasen (16) and Chris Morris (0) were dismissed in consecutive deliveries as both the batsmen were caught at long-on by Suresh Raina and that ended the hosts' hopes of winning the match.
The best kind of smile is a winning smile 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/hCDlKvNbxg
— hardik pandya (@hardikpandya7) February 18, 2018
Post Bhuvneshwar's over, in which four wickets fell in all, it was a mere formality as India kept things tight for the tailenders.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first India were off to a blazing start as they started hammering the Proteas from the word go. Rohit Sharma (21) and Suresh Raina (15) were the two wickets India lost in the first powerplay but their cameos gave the hosts a solid start.
Good win and an amazing spell from @BhuviOfficial welcome to the club bro. Let's keep the wins coming 🇮🇳#INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/PK5GhL7QT4
— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) February 18, 2018
78 runs came from the first six overs for India which was their best start in the T20Is and set the pace for them to post a massive total. Dhawan continued his impressive run with the bat as he slammed his fourth T20I half-century and ensured India reach a respectable total on a surface where team's batting second have done exceptionally well.
Dhawan's innings of 72 off 39 deliveries along with able contributions from skipper Virat Kohli (26) and Manish Pandey (29*) ensured the visitors go past 200 despite losing the momentum in the second half of their batting innings.
Shikhar Dhawan's 27-ball fifty is the fastest for India vs South Africa in T20Is.
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) February 18, 2018
Also the joint-fastest by a subcontinent player vs South Africa (with Umar Akmal).#KFCT20 #SAvIND #INDvSA
India could only manage 93 runs in the last 10 overs as the Protea bowlers mixed up brilliantly to keep the visitors at least 20-25 runs short of the total.
MS Dhoni played an innings of 16 runs but his partnership in the middle overs with Pandey ensured the visitors do not fumble. As the bowlers changed their approach and put a brake on the run flow, the Ranchi dasher kept dealing in ones and twos and kept the scoreboard ticking. By the time Dhoni departed on the first ball of the nineteenth over he had ensured the visitors could touch the 200-figure mark.
Hardik Pandya struck two boundaries in his unbeaten 13-run cameo to help the visitors go past 200.
In T20Is H2H #SAvInd
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) February 18, 2018
Overall wins
7 - India
4 - South Africa
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in South Africa
4 - India
1 - South Africa
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@ Wanderers
2 - India
1 - South Africa
Earlier, comeback man Suresh Raina started things well and thrashed 15 runs off 7 balls he faced before getting dismissed by debutant Junior Dala. Dala had earlier dismissed Rohit Sharma who was looking in ominous touch. Rohit scored 21 off 9 balls before he was dismissed by the youngster.
Earlier, Duminy showed no qualms after winning and toss and immediately elected to bowl as team's batting second have done exceedingly well at The Wanderers.
Unfortunately for the hosts, their senior pro-AB de Villiers was ruled out of the series as he suffered a knee injury and has been ruled out of the series. India, on the other hand, made a few changes to their side. Veteran T20 specialist Suresh Raina has made a comeback to the side while Manish Pandey and Jaydev Unadkat have also made it to the Playing XI.