Proteas outgunned in series-opener

Suryakumar Yadav smashed an unbeaten 50 from just 33 balls to lead India to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory against an outgunned South Africa who were restricted to a meagre 106-8 in the first of three T20 Internationals after being asked to bat first at the Greenfields International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday evening.

Chasing a modest 107 for victory the hosts were reduced to 17-2 when Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje had Rohit Sharma (0) and Virat Kohli (3) caught behind by ‘keeper Quinton de Kock but that was the last hope of an upset victory. KL Rahul anchored the victory with 51 not out from 56 balls to lead India to victory with 20 balls to spare.

Indian left-arm seamer, Arshdeep Singh, claimed three wickets in his first over as South Africa crashed to 9-5 in just 2.3 overs. The match was effectively over after 15 balls.

Arshdeep and fellow new-ball bowler Deepak Chahar enjoyed lavish swing movement to which the Proteas batsmen had no answers with four of them making ducks, three of them first-ballers.

Captain Temba Bavuma (0), on his return to the team after three months of injury, played and missed at a couple of away-swingers in the first over from Chahar before missing an inswinger which hit the top of middle stump.

Quinton de Kock (1) chopped an away swinger from Arshdeep onto his stumps and fellow left-hander, Rilee Rossouw, edged his first ball – also an away swinger – into the gloves of ‘keeper Rishabh Pant.

David Miller’s first ball from Arshdeep was an inswinger which crashed into the stumps and Tristan Stubbs, remarkably, carved his first ball from Chahar to third man where Arshdeep held onto an excellent, running catch. After just 15 balls of the innings the tourists were 9-5.

Aiden Markram offered a brief fightback with a couple of cover-driven fours and a pull for six but was soon trapped lbw for 25 from 24 balls in seamer Harshal Patel’s first over, the eighth of the innings. After 10 overs South Africa were 48-6.

Wayne Parnell, who struck a six against the run-of-play in the final over of the Power Play, battled to 24 from 37 balls before flicking left-arm spinner Axar Patel to Suryakumar Yadav at deep midwicket and the innings was all but over at 68-7.

Keshav Maharaj pulled a six before reverse-ramping Arshdeep for four and slashing another maximum over backward point in the 19th over in a top score of 41 from 35 balls (5x4, 2x6) which helped the innings creep over the 100-mark before Harshal bowled him in the final over with a slower ball.

Amidst the seam and swing bowling mayhem offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin delivered his four overs for just eight runs, including a maiden. Arshdeep finished with 3-32 and Chahar 2-24.

South Africa omitted Reeza Hendricks despite four consecutive 50s in his last five T20I innings in order to accommodate Bavuma while Lungi Ngidi, Dwaine Pretorius and Heinrich Klaasen were also benched.

India surprisingly omitted fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah preferring Arshdeep in the starting XI. It did not, however, look a surprising decision after the match.

The second match is in Guwahati on Sunday and the third in Indore on Tuesday.

INDIA: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

SOUTH AFRICA: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi