All-round India thrash South Africa in first T20I: Key stats
India beat South Africa in the first T20I held in Thiruvananthapuram. The Proteas were stunned as India restricted them to 106/8. SA lost five wickets within the first three overs itself. Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar made the new ball count. In response, India chased down the target in style to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
How did the match pan out?
India bowled really well on a two-paced wicket. South Africa failed to get going after a shocking start. Aiden Markram scored a crucial 25 as Wayne Parnell and Keshav Maharaj chipped in late on. All five Indian bowlers were excellent. Spinners R Ashwin and Axar Patel controlled the flow of runs. In response, India were under pressure early on but got the job done.
Indian bowlers excel against SA
Chahar took two wickets for just 24 runs from his four overs. He now has 28 scalps from 22 games at 22.53. Ashwin was highly economical, conceding 8 runs from four overs, including a maiden. Meanwhile, Axar claimed one wicket for 16 runs. In 8 overs, the Indian duo gave away just 24 runs at 3 per over.
India achieve this unique feat in T20Is
India managed to take five wickets in the PP overs (1-6). For the fifth instance in the format, India have etched this feat. Previously, the instances were 31/5 vs SA Durban 2007, 29/5 vs SL Vizag 2016, 33/5 vs WI Lauderhill 2019, and 21/5 vs Afg Dubai 2022.
Arshdeep and Harshal do well
Arshdeep Singh (3/32) was sensational in his first three overs. He has raced to 17 scalps at 18.47. He has equaled the mark of Zaheer Khan (17 scalps) for India. Harshal Patel (2/26) has 26 scalps from 21 games at 8.90. He has surpassed Harbhajan Singh and Washington Sundar (25 each).
SA record their second-lowest total versus India
South Africa have recorded their second-lowest total versus India. Their lowest score is 87/10 in Rajkot in June 2022. For the third instance, SA have scored lesser than 120 runs against India.
A tale of ducks!
Temba Bavuma (0) registered his third duck in the format for SA. David Miller (0) recorded his maiden nought for SA. Rilee Rossouw (0) now has three ducks for SA in T20Is. For India, Rohit Sharma (0) recorded his ninth duck and second versus SA.
SKY breaks Dhawan's record; surpasses Gambhir's runs tally
Suryakumar Yadav became the first batter in T20Is this year to smash 700-plus runs (732) at 40.66. He is also the first Indian to score 700-plus runs in a calendar year. Surya surpassed the previous record held by Shikhar Dhawan for India (689). Surya (976) has gotten past former India stalwart Gautam Gambhir (932) in terms of T20I runs.
Fifties for KL Rahul and SKY
KL Rahul and Surya added 93 runs to help India win the game. Rahul remained unbeaten on 51 from 56 balls. He slammed his 19th T20I fifty and has amassed 2,080 runs at 39.24. Meanwhile, Surya smashed a 33-ball 50*. He registered his 8th fifty in T20Is. He now has 976 runs at 39.04.
