Captain Virat Kohli allayed injury-related fears and then termed India's 28-run win over South Africa in the first T20 International "one of our most balanced performances" in recent times
Captain Virat Kohli
Captain Virat Kohli allayed injury-related fears and then termed India's 28-run win over South Africa in the first T20 International "one of our most balanced performances" in recent times.
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Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shone bright as India emerged easy winners in the opening game of the three-match series, two days after completing a 5-1 rout of the hosts in the ODIs. When South Africa were batting, Kohli left the field for a brief while after getting injured. "The injury was early on in the innings. Thankfully it wasn't a hamstring. So I went off before I would tear a muscle," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
It was a complete team effort and Kohli acknowledged it. "It was a really good wicket to bat on. Rohit and Shikhar were outstanding at the top. It was a total team batting performance and in the end Bhuvi showing his experience - all in all it was a good team effort. "We were looking to do this in T20s for a long. It was one of our most balanced performances."
South Africa pulled things back a bit after India were off to a flyer, but the visitors till managed a strong 203 for five in the allotted 20 overs. "With the ball, Bhuvi was showing his experience. We never let the run rate drop less than 10.5. I was thinking maybe 220 at the 16-over mark. The basic message to the team was we are here till 25th. We can't go away before that and have to make the best of every time here."
The skipper further said, "We wanted to make the most of the time we have left here. It's an opportunity to play for your country every time and we have fresh faces who are looking for those opportunities at all times so there's a new motivation every time."
Figure trigger
Five
No. of wickets taken by Bhuvneshwar Kumar yesterday to become the first Indian fast bowler to take a fifer in T20Is. He is also the first Indian bowler to have five-wicket hauls in all three international formats
134
No. of catches MSâÂu00c2u0080Âu00c2u0088Dhoni has taken in T20s (262 innings) - most by any wicketkeeper in 20-over cricket.
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