India vs South Africa 2022: 1st T20I – Who Said What

The much-awaited home T20I series for India didn’t start on a fancy note as they got pushed down by the spirited South African contingent by seven wickets in Delhi. Despite putting a challenging score on the board, the hosts had no answers to the courage shown by Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller towards the end. The match started with Temba Bavuma calling it right at the toss and inviting Rishabh Pant and his men to bat first.

The underfire Ishan Kishan kicked off the innings on a flying note as he smashed 76 off 48 deliveries before being undone by Keshav Maharaj. While Shreyas Iyer (36 off 27) and Rishabh Pant (29 off 16) emerged as vital cogs in the middle, Hardik Pandya concluded India’s innings in style with his quickfire unbeaten 31 off 12. Keshav Maharaj remained very expensive on the day while having one wicket in his kitty, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, and Dwaine Pretorius got one wicket each to their credit.

Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller seal the deal for South Africa

The visiting side didn’t start very explosively in order to chase 212 runs as the top order went off with no major contributions. However, the real trouble got unlocked for Indian bowlers when Van der Dussen (75* off 46) and Miller (64* off 31) started operating on a different level. Both the batters left no stone unturned to bring victory for their side in the opening game and wrapped up the game with five balls to spare. Harshal Patel, Axar Patel, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked one wicket each for India.

Winning skipper, Temba Bavuma said:

We expected the wicket to get better as the night went on. Fortunately the batting came through. Bit tricky to assess the bowling. It was fair considering how good that wicket was. He (Ishan Kishan) made it look very easy. They put us under pressure when our spinners were bowling. Always had a left-right combo that didn’t allow us to settle. proper batting display. David carried his form and well supported by Rassie. Just need to build from this performance. It was a good wicket, probably we can read the situation a bit better, especially the spinners. I am being overly critical because the pitch was good. We will take that result. We have a lot of belief in Rassie. We have seen him do that time and time again where he kind of starts slowly and then finds a way to bring it back at the end. He is a guy we can see as a finisher in our team. Him partnering with David does make out batting explosive. It was hot but wasn’t so humid. Cut down on some training and make sure everyone is fit.

Losing skipper, Rishabh Pant said:

We had enough on the board, but I think we were a little off with the execution. But sometimes you got to give credit to the opposition. Miller and RvD batted well. Slower balls were working when we batted, but the wicket got better in the second innings. Mostly we executed our plans (to Miller) but the wicket got better and better. We were very happy with the total but next time we are in a similar situation we will do better.

Player of the match, David Miller said:

Obviously a lot of hard work has gone in over the last few years understanding my game a lot better. You need two players playing a part while chasing. Rassie played phenomenally well at the back end with some big overs. Chuffed with the result. Just try and hang in there was the chat (With Rassie). He was trying to go but he wasn’t getting it. Just about limiting dot balls and waiting for that loose ball. Belief (one thing that has transformed his career). Understanding winning more games and more consistency gives you more belief. I am pretty open to bat anywhere. Just want to make a difference.