IND vs SA, 1st T20I: Winning the toss and fielding has become a common practice these days as far as T20I cricket is concerned. Teams prefer to chase more often than to set a target and defend it. Rohit Sharma and Temba Bavuma, both wanted to bowl first but to Rohit's fortune, the toss favored the blue brigade. Skipper Sharma decided to field first on a pitch that had plenty of grass covering for India's pace battery to exploit. Bumrah missed out due to an injury scare, whereas the management rested Bhuvneshwar Kumar just to try a few more combinations before the all-important World Cup.
Temba Bavuma walked in with his compatriot Quinton de Kock to open the proceedings for the Proteas. Skipper Rohit picked up Deepak Chahar to open the bowling for India. The Chennai Super Kings stalwart who made his comeback in the Zimbabwe series was right on the money from the very first ball. Chahar had Bavuma in all sorts of difficulties. The Proteas skipper who was making a comeback into the side after a long-standing injury looked completely clueless against Chahar. The Indian pacer beautifully set Bavuma up, before he rattled his stumps. On the other hand was young Arshdeep who steamed in with every delivery and dismissed Quinton de Kock. Rilee Rossouw and David Miller couldn't do much either as they fell prey to Arshdeep's brilliance. Aiden Markram tried to put up a brave fight and remained watchful. Markram couldn't do much either as he was helpless at the other end. Just before Markram could make a move, Harshal sent him packing and South Africa were reduced to 42/6. The day turned out to be a horrid one for South Africa as half of their team was sent back to the pavillion before they could even breach the 50-run mark.
Youngster Tristan Stubbs, who had a stellar series against England was walking in with a huge responsibility on his shoulders. Chahar who was on a roll shortened Stubbs's stay at the crease as he dismissed him for a golden duck. Surprisingly Wayne Parnell was joined by Keshav Maharaj and both of them tried to rescue their team from the rough seas. Parnell scored a pretty watchful 24 off 37 deliveries and his partner Keshav Maharaj, courtesy of his last-minute heroics ended with a score of 41 off 35 deliveries. India restrained the visitors to a meager total of 105 and they need to be pretty careful against the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Keshav Maharaj.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
