Aiden Markram-led South Africa host Suryakumar Yadav-led India in the first T20I of the four-match series at the Kingsmead in Durban on Friday, November 8.
Indian National Cricket Team beat Aiden Markram-led South African National Cricket Team by 61 runs in the match to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The next game in the series is scheduled to be played on Sunday, November 10 at St Georges Park in Gkeberha.
South Africa failed to make runs against India
South Africa won the toss and batted first in the match. The decision backfired for the hosts and the Indians took the bowlers to the cleaners.
Sanju Samson was the chief architect behind the devastation as the Proteas completely decimated the bowling unit. Samson scored his second consecutive T20I century and finished with 107 runs from 50 balls. India amassed 202/8 on the board.
For South Africa, Gerald Coetzee emerged as the top performer as he bowled four overs, the right-arm pacer taking three wickets and conceding just 37 runs.
Also read: Watch: Suryakumar Yadav gets into heated argument with Marco Jansen to protect Sanju Samson
Sanju played incredibly well – Aiden Markram stated after the 1st T20I
In a post-match interaction, Aiden Markram refused to blame the batting decision for South Africa’s loss, saying the new ball helped both teams equally. He said:
“(if his pitching decision played a role in hindsight) Not so much about pitching. Both new balls had some impact with extra bounce; that was consistent across the two innings. The new ball played well after it wore in. We wanted to get off to a better start and we lost the game.”
Aiden Markram then spoke about Sanju Samson and lauded the Indian batsman for his heroics. The Proteas captain admitted that once Sanju Samson went into animal mode, it was difficult to stop him.
Aiden Markram said, “Sanju bowled incredibly well, put our bowlers under pressure, plans to deny him and better plans will help us going forward. He’s very hard to stop when he hits like that and you take your hat off to him.” .
Aiden Markram singled out Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen as two positives for South Africa and said they need to regroup soon and plan better in the next T20I.
“We had a couple of meetings with the death squad today, we were incredibly proud of two of them (Coetzee and Jansen) and tonight was a really big positive for us. (on plans for the next game) From an individual point of view, they will understand where they can be better and then they’ll meet as a batting and bowling group, you don’t decide that in the nets, it’s more about the approach and the tactical point of view,” said Aiden Markram.
The previous T20I series between India and South Africa ended in a draw
The 2023 T20I series between India and South Africa ended in a 1-1 draw. The first T20I in Durban was called off due to persistent rain.
The action finally started at Qgeberha as South Africa cruised to a solid win in the second T20I. India batted first and posted 180/7 on the board thanks to Rinku Singh’s stunning 68 and skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s quickfire 56.
South Africa’s chase was aided by the DLS method, which required them to score 152 from 15 overs. Reeza Hendricks set the tone with a brisk 49, supported by Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs, and helped South Africa to a five-wicket win with seven balls to spare.
Then India bounced back with a magnificent performance in the third and final T20I in Johannesburg. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a stunning 60 runs while Suryakumar Yadav crushed 100 off 56 balls to lead India to a magnificent total of 201/7.
South Africa’s chase fizzled after the Indian bowlers, particularly Kuldeep Yadav with his impressive five-wicket haul, dismantled their order, bowling them out for just 95 runs in 13.5 overs. India won by a massive 106 runs to level the series 1-1.
