South Africa V. India First T20: India Take 1-0 Lead
DayHighlights:
- India won by 28 runs
- They made 203-5
- Dhawan made 72
India brought their ODI series form into the T20 series as well in Johannesburg where they played South Africa in the first match of the three-match series on Sunday. A terrific batting performance by them saw them post a massive 205 courtesy of a brilliant knock by opener Shikhar Dhawan. In reply, the hosts could only manage 175-9 to lose by 28 runs and hand India a 1-0 lead in the series.
It was another one sided game and another win for India as the teams shifted to the shortest format of the game after India wrapped up the six-match ODI series convincingly 5-1 in their favour. India started the T20 series in style as they batted in the first half of the game. A rocket start by Rohit Sharma saw them get right off the blocks as they hammered the South African openers. Completely demotivating the African pace-unit, India went on to set the tone for the game from there on as they went on to register a total of more than 200 from their 20 overs. Guided by Dhawan’s innings of 72 off just 39 balls the rest of the batsmen rallied around him to contribute to the task at hand and register 203-5. For the Proteas it was an on-off innings which sparkled in sporadic phases but never really got off. Despite Rezza Hendricks knock off 70 of 50, none of the other batsmen got going. The wily Kumar ran through the African line-up as he bowled an excellent spell of 5-24 from his four overs to not only guide India to a comfortable victory but also take home the match of the man award.
Virat Kohli (India captain): “Very impressive from the boys. Shikhar was outstanding. It was a total team batting performance. With the ball, Bhuvi showing his experience. This was one of our most balanced performances.”
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Man of the Match): “It’s amazing to get five in a T20. I just wanted to bowl in the good areas and it’s a result of that. Seeing how they were bowling and how the wicket was, we planned our bowling and it worked for us.
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