Suryakumar Yadav (50 not out) and KL Rahul (51 not out) hit unbeaten half-centuries to power India to an eight-wicket win against South Africa in the first T20 International at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
On a green top, Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first.
The green cover of grass assisted the Indian fast bowlers right from the outset. Deepak Chahar gave India the breakthrough as early as the first over of the match as he castled South African skipper Temba Bavuma for naught. This was followed by Arshdeep Singh's three-wicket over. The left-arm fast bowler, who made his return to India's playing XI after being rested for the series against Australia, accounted for the wickets of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw and David Miller. South Africa were left reeling at 8/4 after just two overs.
The Proteas never recovered over early jolts and it was only spinner Keshav Maharaj's patient 35-ball 41, and Aiden Markram and Wayne Parnell's contributions of 25 and 24 respectively helped the visitors to a paltry 106/8 in 20 overs.
India's chase was also off to a poor start as pacer Kagiso Rabada forced an outside edge from Rohit's bat in the third over of the Indian innings and the ball was safely pouched by de Kock behind the wickets. The Indian captain had to make his way back to the dugout without troubling the scoreboard. South Africa further made proceedings difficult for India as Anrich Nortje removed inform batter Virat Kohli three overs later as Kohli chased a slow short ball wide of off stump only to edge it behind the stumps to de Kock once more. Kohli departed after making just three. India's score read 17/2 at the fall of Kohli's wicket.
But Kohli's wicket was the last bit of success that South Africa enjoyed in the night. After Kohli's wicket, Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul took control of India's run chase. While Suryakumar was a tad fast in his innings, Rahul backed Suryakumar with a measured knock.
The two batsmen completed their respective fifties in the 17th over. Suryakumar was the first to notch the half-century as he worked the third delivery of the over for a single. On the next delivery, Rahul slog-swept the ball over deep square-leg to reach the milestone. The 93-run unbeaten partnership between Suryakumar and Rahul steered India home in 16.2 overs with 8 wickets to spare.
Arshdeep for his firey of 3/32 was adjudged the Player of the Match.
Brief Scores:
South Africa: 106 for 8 in 20 overs (Keshav Maharaj 41, Aiden Markram 25, Wayne Parnell 24; Arshdeep Singh 3/32, Harshal Patel 2/26, Deepak Chahar 2/24). India: 110 for 2 in 16.4 overs. (KL Rahul 51 not out, Suryakumar Yadav 50 not).
