India defeated South Africa by 61 runs yesterday in the 1st T20I that was played at Kingsmead in Durban. Proteas skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and sent the visitors into bat as the visitors made merry. (Match Highlights | Report | Cricket News)
Sanju Samson's blistering century (107 off 50 balls) helped the Men In Blue post a mammoth 202/8 in 20 overs. This was Samson's second consecutive T20I ton. In response, the hosts never got going as they were bowled out for 141 in 17.5 overs.
Varun Chakravarthy (3/25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3/28) shared wickets as Proteas lost the opening encounter.
Batting first, Abhishek Sharma made seven runs as India the hosts made early inroads. Samson and skipper Suryakumar Yadav added 66 for the second wicket. Samson struck seven fours and as many as 10 maximums in his scintillating knock.
'SKY' fell for 21 runs with Patrick Kruger sending back the Indian captain. Samson then teamed up with Tilak Varma (33 off 18 balls) as the duo added a blistering 77-runs for the third wicket.
Varma fell to Keshav Maharaj with Samson following suit. The Proteas made a strong back in the latter stages of the game as India slipped from 175/3 to 202/8. Pacer Gerald Coetzee was the pick of the bunch for the hosts with figures of 3/37.
Brief Scores:
India 202 for 8 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 107, Tilak Verma 33; Gerald Coetzee 3/37)
South Africa: 141 all out in 17.5 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 25; Varun Chakaravarthy 3/25, Ravi Bishnoi 3/28)
