Shikhar, Bhuvi double act too much for SA to handle
Seamer claims India’s secondbest T20 haul after opener’s 72; visitors go 10 up
JOHANNESBURG: IN front of a packed Wanderers stadium, with massive Indian support, and on a wicket as flat as a highway, India out-batted South Africa to win by 28 runs and go 1-0 up in the threet20 series on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma’s early onslaught on the weak Proteas bowling, taking 21 off nine deliveries, set the tone before Shikhar Dhawan tore them to shreds, making 72 off 39 balls.
Valuable contributions from others, including skipper Virat Kohli, took India to 203, their best total against South Africa.
While the Proteas batsmen showed more heart than in the ODI series loss, maintaining a scoring rate of eight-and-a-half, it was always going to be tough.
They were pushed on the backfoot even before the game, after AB de Villiers was ruled out.
Without their stars, South Africa, who play T20s with only a handful of top players, were all the more poorer, paving the way for India to make a winning start.
India’s top order, compared to South Africa’s, has been in sublime form in limited-overs cricket and maintained that. Virat Kohli could experiment by sending Suresh Raina at No 3, giving him the opportunity to cash in on some inexperienced bowling. It didn’t pay off. Raina got a life during his brief stay but fell playing a false shot coming down the track to swat a short-pitched delivery that resulted in a return catch.
Kohli, unstoppable in the ODIS, hit 26 off 20 deliveries at No 4. Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni too chipped in. Their strike rates weren’t exceptional, but because Dhawan had galloped at the top, India, initially looking good for 250, ended with just over 200.
The Proteas fast bowlers gave the batsmen the pace to play strokes, like their seniors had done in the ODIS. With no swing on offer, their type of bowling was always going to be milked.
While Reeza Hendricks (70) and Farhaan Behardien (39) batted, it looked like they would make a match of it. But the pressure got to them and they fell one by one, trying to go for big hits.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked 5/24, the top three batsmen as well as the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen, who fell in an 18th over that saw four wickets tumble with the seamer on a hattrick.