At the Barabati Stadium in Odisha, South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first in the first t20 match of the series.
India opened with Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill. Gill got off the mark with a boundary on the second ball but couldn’t make it count. On the very next delivery, he played a loose shot and was caught at mid-off off Lungi Ngidi. A short stay, and India were one down almost instantly.
Bounce, Pace and Another Blow
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the middle . He took his time early as the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat smoothly. The South African pacers bowled hard lengths and used the bounce well. In Ngidi’s over, SKY flicked two balls in a row one went for four, the next into the stands. But Ngidi corrected his length, bowled it a bit fuller outside off, and SKY edged it. Markram takes an easy catch at mid-on. India under pressure again.
Abhishek Shows Intent
Tilak Varma joined Abhishek Sharma in the middle. Marco Jansen hit Abhishek on the body with a sharp delivery, showing exactly why Indian batters have struggled against him in longer formats. Abhishek charges him just on the next ball , a great response , dugs in short on off-stump , Abhishek hangs back and slams it over the mid wicket with a pull and dispatches it .Tilak, though, never looked comfortable ,and was unsettled and struggled to time the ball. India ended the powerplay at 40/2, going slower than expected.
Momentum Slips Away
Just after the powerplay, Abhishek played two good shots one through extra cover and another through mid-wicket off Sipamla. But Sipamla slowed it up on the next ball, and Abhishek was caught by Jansen near the boundary at deep fine leg. Axar Patel came in to bat with Tilak. The partnership never really took off. Runs came slowly, and Tilak continued to look short of confidence. Ngidi returned and dismissed Tilak, against Ngidi pulls straight to deep fine leg to Jansen . Tilak made 26 off 32 balls. India were 80/4 after 12 overs, with no momentum.
Hardik Changes the Mood
Hardik Pandya walked in with India in trouble. He didn’t waste time there and just in the next over against Maharaj, he smashed two sixes and collected a dozen runs in just three balls. Except for Anrich Nortje, who consistently bowled above 140 kmph, the South African bowlers relied on slower balls and cutters. It worked against most batters. Axar fell for 26 off 23 balls, and Shivam Dube was bowled by Donovan Ferreira. Hardik, however, looked completely in control and it felt like the guy is playing on a whole different pitch .
A Proper Finishing Knock
Pandya attacked every bowler and played with total freedom. He smashed 59 off 28 balls, striking at over 200 and bringing up his 100th six in T20Is. Jitesh Sharma chipped in at the end, and India finished on 175 where at one point even 150 was looking far . Ngidi was the standout for South Africa, finishing with 3/31 and keeping India below 200.
South Africa Collapse in the Chase
Arshdeep Rips Through the Top
South Africa needed 176. Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram opened the innings. Arshdeep Singh struck on the second ball, removing de Kock at slip. In the next over, Tristan Stubbs edged one and Arshdeep struck again. He was excellent with the new ball and put South Africa on the back foot early.
Spin and Pressure Take Over
Danger man Dewald Brevis comes in at . Varun Chakravarthy was introduced in the fifth over and was hit for 12 runs as he bowled a bit too full. Axar Patel bowled the final over of the powerplay and struck immediately. His arm-ball crashed into Markram’s stumps. David Miller came in but was out first ball to Hardik Pandya, bringing back memories for Indian fans.
One-Sided Finish
From there, it was all India. South Africa’s batters looked rushed and never settled. Jansen hit a couple of sixes, but that was the only brief resistance. Varun came back strongly with a maiden wicket over, removing Ferreira. Wickets kept falling, and South Africa were eventually bowled out for just 74. India dominated clearly and got a huge 101-run win and took a 1–0 lead in the five-match T20I series.
