IND vs SA T20I at Barabati: Hardik Pandya and bowlers seal emphatic win for India

After Hardik Pandya's brilliant batting, bowlers put up a spirited show to help India register an emphatic win against South Africa in the first T20I of the five-match series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday.

Hosts India scripted a convincing victory of 101 runs against the Proteas to lead the series 1-0.

Chasing a victory target of 176, South Africa were never in the game and they were eventually skittled out for only 74 runs in just 12.3 overs. The visitors seemed to be in a hurry. Only Dewald Brevis (22, 14b, 3x4, 1x6) managed to put some sort of resistance with the bat. Others simply threw their wickets away in search of quick runs.

For India, Arshdeep Singh (2/14), Jasprit Bumrah (2/17), Varun Chakaravarthy (2/19) and Axar Patel (2/7) bowled brilliantly to scalp two wickets each. Hardik and Shivam Dube picked up one wicket each. Arshdeep bowled with precision and picked two wickets upfront and South Africa could never recover from the initial blows. Subsequently, they lost wickets at regular intervals and never managed to build any partnership.

Earlier, riding on a brisk half century by star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, hosts India set a competitive victory target of 176. Put into bat first after losing the loss, India were restricted to 175 for the loss of six wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.

Also Read: IND vs SA T20I at Barabati: Hardik Pandya’s fiery knock powers India to competitive total

Returning to the Indian team after a long injury lay-off, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya (59 n o, 28b, 6x4, 4x6) shone with the bat. Though wickets kept tumbling on the other end at regular intervals, Pandya mixed aggression with caution and emerged as the highest scorer for the hosts. His mature knock helped India set a competitive total against the Proteas.

Though most of the top order batters got good starts, they failed to convert those starts into substantial scores. As a result, India lost wickets at regular intervals and failed to register a formidable total due to lack of partnerships.

Abhishek Sharma (17, 12b, 2x4, 1x6), Tilak Varma (26, 32b, 2x4, 1x6), Axar Patel (23, 21b, 1x6) wasted golden opportunities to score big despite getting good starts.

Lungi Ngidi (3/31) was the wrecker-in-chief for South Africa. He was well supported by Lutho Sipamla (2/38).