By: Drcricket7 Staff
India were right on the money when some of their players didn’t read too much into South Africa’s loss to India ‘A’ by eight wickets at the Palam cricket ground. Right from skipper MS Dhoni to debutant S Arvind, everyone knew that the South Africa are a good travelers and they proved yet again.
While chasing a daunting 200-run winning target in the opening match of the three-match T20 series, the Proteas began their tour of India with a bang. It was a gentle reminder to the hosts that they have arrived! In the end, it was JP Duminy’s batting heroics that sealed a thrilling seven-wicket victory in the 1st T20 in Dharamsala.
With the dew factor, it was always going to be tough to defend any total. Still India did exceedingly well, thanks to Rohit Sharma’s 106, to make 199 for five. Even India’s captain MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli played stellar roles, but all put together, they couldn’t overpower South Africa.
South Africa openers — AB de Villiers (51) and Hashim Amla (36) — led a robust reply with a breezy 77-run opening stand before falling in quick succession. At 95-3, South Africa looked in trouble but Duminy and Farhaan Behardien (32 not out) refused to throw in the towel.
Both Duminy and Behardien batted like champions and humiliated the majority of the Indian bowlers with utter disdain. Barring Ravichandran Ashwin, who was once again brilliant in his approach, the rest of the attack was taken to cleaners by the South Africa batsmen.
Duminy, who remained unbeaten on 68 off 34 balls, was adjudged the man of the match for his superlative effort with the bat. He was simply outstanding, as if he was playing at home like Rohit Sharma. At one of the most picturesque cricket stadiums in the world, it was also tough for the Indians to grip on the field.
South Africa took advantage and that is reason why their T20 captain Faf du Plessis decided to field first after winning the toss. So what was the turning the point of the match? Like always, there were several crucial moments, but Duminy hitting Indian spinner Axar Patel for three successive sixes in the 16th over actually turned the match on its head. Now that the first match is done and dusted, India will have to fix their bowling woes before the second T20 tie in Cuttack on Monday.
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