Solid batting saves Proteas blushes
The grand batting of David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, and excellent bowling up front, gave South Africa control of the first ODI against India, before the home team produced the mother of all late charges to give the Proteas a big scare in Lucknow last night.
Miller and Klaasen came together with South Africa struggling on 110/4 in the 23rd over. But the skill and composure of the duo was exceptional as they stopped the rot and then cut loose, scoring 85 runs in the last 10 overs.
The in-form Miller struck a fiery 75 not out off 63 balls, with five fours and three sixes, while Klaasen was unbeaten on 74 off 65 deliveries, a fine supporting act that saw him hit six fours and a couple of sixes.
Their outstanding unbeaten partnership of 139 in 17.4 overs lifted South Africa to 249/4 in 40 overs, the match being reduced after the start of play had been delayed for an hour-and-45-minutes due to rain.
They lost the toss and were sent in to bat on a tricky pitch offering seam and turn, and Quinton de Kock kept the top-order together with 48 off 54.
Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell then produced superb tight lines with the new ball, forcing both openers to play on.
Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj then turned the screw, conceding just 23 runs in his eight overs and getting the wicket of Ishan Kishan, caught at leg-slip for 20.
That left India 51/4 in the 18th over and their required run-rate soon grew to more than 9.5 runs per over.
But Shreyas Iyer showed what a dangerous hitter he is, lashing 50 off 37 balls, and Sanju Samson and Shardul Thakur (33 off 31) added 93 in 11 overs.
The brilliant Rabada (8-236-2) and Lungi Ngidi (8-0-52-3) took key wickets at the death and Tabraiz Shamsi, who was badly out of sorts, had 29 runs to defend in the last over.
Samson (86 not out off 63 balls)) set up an incredible finish as he scored 15 off the first three balls (including a wide), but Shamsi finally managed to get the ball on a fuller length and a slog-sweep failed to find the boundary, no run scored, as India’s thrilling chase came to an end and the Proteas won by nine runs.