India vs South Africa 2022: 1st ODI – Who Said What

Team South Africa managed to hold their nerves at key moments as they went on to win the first ODI encounter played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. Talking about the game, India won the toss and opted to have a bowl first.

South African openers gave a decent start to its team, but all-rounder Shardul Thakur ensured that the home team make a strong comeback in the match as he took the wickets of opening batters Janneman Malan and skipper Temba Bavuma. Senior batter Aiden Markram also went back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers. 

However, an excellent batting performance from David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen stroked excellent fifties with the bat as the visiting team scored 249 runs in its allotted 40 overs. 

Sanju Samson played exceedingly well for his 80+ score

In reply, South African batters were on the money right from ball one. Opening batters skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill failed to get going with the bat. Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad tried to play a long innings for the Men in Blue but they got out to African spinners including Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi. 

A late fightback from Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur meant that the home side remained in the contest, but it was too much to ask from the Indian batters as they lost the contest by nine runs. 

Winning skipper, Temba Bavuma said:

A good fight at the end, obviously Sanju pushed us at the end, but the boys stood firm and took us to the win. There wasn't much grass on the surface, we lost a couple of wickets in the middle overs, myself and Aiden (Markram), but the boys knuckled down. Miller and Klaasen played positively, stung together a partnership and took us to a good score. Bowling upfront was good, in the first 15 overs by KG and Parnell. I thought we lost our way in the middle overs, gave away far too many runs, but at the end, the result did go our way and I'm happy with that.

Losing skipper, Shikhar Dhawan said:

Quite proud of the way the boys played the game, we didn't get a good start, the way Shreyas, Samson and Shardul batted was excellent. We gave away too many runs on a wicket that swung and spun, the fielding wasn't great, but this was a good learning experience for us.

Player of the match, Heinrich Klaasen said:

Not at all (when asked if the conditions were easy to bat), the ball was moving a lot and was spinning just before I walked out to the middle. But we have worked hard in the nets, I do have a good record against India and looking forward to the rest of the games.