Proteas crumble - yet again!

SOUTH Africa’s fragility was once again exposed as they failed to chase the par target of 204 they were set by India in the first T20 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg yesterday.

India won by 28 runs, with opener Shikhar Dhawan sparkling with a knock of 72 and quick bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking five for 24 to leave South Africa‚ who did not have injured AB de Villiers in their lineup‚ stranded on 175 for nine after 20 overs.

India take a 1-0 lead in the series, which moves to SuperSport Park on Wednesday and ends in Cape Town on Saturday.

Just as they did in the ODI series they lost 5-1 to India‚ South Africa’s top order crumbled. Their fielding was horrendous, dropping three catches that could have put India under pressure.

Jon-Jon Smuts‚ stand-in captain JP Duminy and David Miller gave away their wickets cheaply, while David Miller (9)‚ Heinrich Klaasen (16)‚ Chris Morris (0) and Dane Paterson (1) did not help the cause as they buckled under pressure in the middle.

Reeza Hendricks and Farhaan Behardien tried to rescue South Africa with a partnership of 81 off 52 balls after the early loss of Duminy‚ Smuts and Miller but it was broken when Behardien was caught by Manish Pandey off spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Hendricks was the pick of the Proteas batsmen with 70 from 50 balls and, although Behardien showed guts for his knock of 39 off 27 balls‚ it was his fielding that disappointed, as he dropped Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli with his Titans teammate Tabraiz Shamsi putting down Pandey.

Debutant Junior Dala was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa, ending his spell with figures of two for 42 in his allotted four overs, where he accounted for Rohit Sharma and Raina.

Chris Morris‚ Shamsi and Andile Phehlukwayo ended with one wicket each while Dane Paterson and Smuts ended their bowling spells wicketless.

In their chase‚ the first victim was Smuts who attacked a slower ball by Kumar only to be caught by Dhawan having scored only 14.

Then the warning lights flashed for South Africa, when Duminy departed for three after he was caught by Raina as Kumar claimed his second scalp of the afternoon.

Things worsened for the hosts, when Miller was easily caught by Dhawan at long-on from another slower ball by Hardik Pandya.

For India‚ Dhawan top-scored with 72 from 39 balls and he was supported by Pandey (29)‚ Kohli (26) and Sharma (21). – TimesLive