Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 28
KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav smashed unbeaten fifties to lead India to an eight-wicket victory over South Africa in the opening T20 International here today.
India restricted South Africa to 106/8, a total that had looked improbable after a spectacular top order collapse left the touring side reeling at 9/5 in 2.3 overs.
Rahul made 51 not out and Yadav, the world’s second-ranked T20 batsman, remained unbeaten on 50 off 33 balls as India romped home with 20 balls to spare.
India’s pace attack, led by Arshdeep Singh, had laid the foundations of the victory on a seaming track at the Greenfield International Stadium.
They blew away South Africa’s top order within 15 deliveries to seize early control of the match.
Deepak Chahar dismissed touring captain Temba Bavuma in the first over and sent back Tristan Stubbs in his next. In between, Arshdeep sent down a three-wicket over to break the back of South African line-up.
The left-arm seamer got Quinton de Kock to drag a ball onto his stumps and removed Rilee Rossouw and David Miller in successive deliveries to leave the tourists in tatters.
“There was a lot of help from the surface,” Arshdeep, who was named the Player of the Match, said. “Chahar set the tone and I just wanted to execute the plans. Loved the wicket of David Miller, he was expecting the out-swinger, but I got that to swing in. So that was great,” he added.
Aiden Markram (25) and Wayne Parnel (24) offered resistance with the bat but it was Keshav Maharaj’s counterattacking 41 that helped South Africa post a 100-plus score.
India endured their own top order woes when they began their chase.
Captain Rohit Sharma fell for a duck and Virat Kohli made three but Rahul played the anchor and Yadav the aggressor in an unbroken 93-run third-wicket stand to put India 1-0 ahead in the three-match series. “When you play a game like that you learn a lot,” Sharma said. “It was sticky, there was still dampness, and it stayed throughout. We got wickets upfront, and that was the turning point. No matter what the conditions, when you swing the ball like that any batter will struggle,” he added.
Brief Scores: South Africa: 106/8 in 20 overs (Maharaj 41; Arshdeep 3/32, Chahar 2/24); India: 110/2 in 16.4 overs (Rahul 51*, Yadav 50*) — Agencies
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