All-rounder Hardik marks his return to competitive cricket with an unbeaten 59 off 28 balls and 1-16 off two overs as hosts crush South Africa by 101 runs in first T20I
Hardik Pandya in full flow against SA in Cuttack on Tuesday. Pic/BCCI
Hardik Pandya’s all-round show (59 not out off 28 balls & 1-16) helped India crush South Africa by 101 runs in the first fixture of the five-match T20Is series here on Tuesday.
Chasing 176, South Africa were dismissed for just 74 in 12.3 overs. Dewald Brevis, with 22 off 14 balls, was the leading scorer for the Proteas. Pacers Arshdeep Singh (2-14), Jasprit Bumrah (2-17), spinners Varun Chakravarthy (2-19) and Axar Patel (2-7) did most of the damage.
Earlier, Pandya marked his return to competitive cricket with a blistering half-century that helped India recover from some early blows to post a healthy 175-6.
Arshdeep Singh after dismissing SA’s Tristan Stubbs. Pic/AFP
Coming back after 74 days following a left quadricep injury that forced him out of the Asia Cup, Pandya walked in at No. 6 and immediately changed the tempo of the match.
India had slipped in both the Powerplay and middle overs losing six wickets, but Pandya, who had proved his fitness at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Baroda with a 42-ball 77 not out, counter-attacked with clean, fearless hitting, laced with six fours and four sixes. It was his sixth T20I fifty.
Pandya’s late fireworks helped India add 53 runs in the last five overs, while Nortje, returning from injury, conceded 41 in four, including 12 in the final over.
100
No. of sixes by Hardik Pandya in T20Is — he is the fourth Indian to reach the three-figure mark
One
Jasprit Bumrah is the first Indian player and fifth overall to claim 100 or more wickets in all three international formats
101
India’s victory margin on Tuesday is their eighth-biggest in T20Is (by runs)
74
This is the lowest total by South Africa in T20Is
Brief scores
India 175-6 in 20 overs (H Pandya 59*, T Varma 26; L Ngidi 3-31, L Sipamla 2-38) beat SA 74 all out in 12.3 overs (D Brevis 22; A Patel 2-7, A Singh 2-14, J Bumrah 2-17, V Chakravarthy 2-19) by 101 runs
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