Indian captain Rohit Sharma feels the first couple of overs when his bowlers wreaked havoc was the turning point in the first T20I against South Africa at the Greenfield International Stadium on Wednesday. Indian fast bowlers duo of Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh had the Proteas on the ropes as they reduced them to 9-5 after 2.3 overs. Thus, South Africa became the fastest team to drop five wickets across all T20 formats.
It was a disastrous start for the visitors but the Indian bowlers were able to make merry on the helpful surface. Deepak Chahar provided the perfect start as he sent back South African skipper Temba Bavuma with a peach of an inswinger in the first over.
Arshdeep Singh then accounted for the big wicket of Quinton de Kock as the left-hander played on to his stumps. The in-form Rilee Rossouw was also dismissed by the youngster and then David Miller was dismissed for a golden duck.
Chahar then removed Tristan Stubbs to send half of the South African line-up back in the pavilion when the visitors had not even scored 10 runs. It was always going to be a tough task for South Africa to come back into the match. However, crucial runs from Aiden Markram, Wayne Parnell, and most importantly Keshav Maharaj got them past the 100-run mark.
On the other hand, Indian batters also found it difficult to get going on the difficult pitch but they were able to get over the line after KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav scored fifties.
Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “The wicket was tricky. You learn a lot playing such a game. You understand what the team needs to do in tough conditions. It was nice to play a game like that. We knew the bowlers will get something seeing grass on the pitch, but we didn’t expected help for the full 20 overs. It was still damp. Both teams were in the contest and the team that played better won the game. We started well, got 5 wickets in quick time and that was the turning point. Perfect showcase of how to bowl when there is help for the pacers (talking about Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep). We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Got to respect the conditions. Lost two wickets and that partnership between KL and Surya got us home.”
India will be delighted to get over the line as it was a tough pitch to bat on. Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshal Patel were right on the money whereas Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin also did a fine job.
The second T20I will be played on Sunday at Guwahati.
