First T20I: India beat South Africa by 61 runs, Sanju Samson named Player of the Match

DURBAN: Team India started off the 4-match T20I series against South Africa with a resounding win. Surya Kumar Yadav and team defeated the hosts by 61 runs in the first T20I in Durban to go up 1-0 in the series. Chasing a huge target of 203, South Africa were bundled out for 141 runs in 17.5 overs. Malayali cricketer Sanju Samson's century and three-wicket hauls by spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi helped India seal victory. Sanju was named Player of the Match for his brilliant knock of 107 off just 50 balls.

Score: India 202/8 (20), South Africa 141-10 (17.5)

Chasing a target of 203 runs, South Africa lost the wicket of skipper Aiden Markram in the very first over. Markram, who scored 8 runs, was caught behind the stumps by Sanju Samson off the bowling of Arshdeep Singh. Later, Ryan Rickelton (21 off 11) and Tristan Stubbs (11 off 11) were also dismissed cheaply. David Miller (18 off 22) and Heinrich Klaasen (25 off 22) then combined for a 42-run partnership for the fourth wicket. However, both of them fell while attempting to accelerate the run rate.

None of the remaining South African batters were able to pose a serious challengers to the Indian bowlers. Although Gerald Coetzee tried to give some hopes to the hosts by hitting a few boundaries, all hopes were dashed when he was run out by Suryakumar Yadav. Spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi took three wickets each, while Avesh Khan took two wickets. Arshdeep Singh got one wicket.

Batting first, India managed to put up a huge score of 202/8 in their 20 overs, thanks to a scintillating knock by Sanju Samson. Sanju, who completed his century in just 47 balls, became the first Indian batter to score consecutive centuries in T20Is. His innings included 10 sixes and 7 fours. Tilak Verma scored 33 runs in 18 balls and Suryakumar Yadav scored 21 runs in 17 balls. However, Abhishek Sharma (7 runs in 8 balls), Hardik Pandya (2 runs in 6 balls), Rinku Singh (11 runs in 10 balls), and Axar Patel (7 runs in 7 balls) were not able to shine in batting.