Twitter Reactions: Sanju Samson, spinners orchestrate comfortable win for India in 1st T20I

India registered their 11th consecutive win in T20Is as they defeated South Africa by 61 runs at Kingsmead, Durban on Friday, November 8, to go 1-0 up in the four-match series. Sanju Samson set things up nicely with the bat by smashing his second century on the trot in T20Is before Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi spun a web around the South African batters.

Aiden Markram won the toss and invited India to bat first on a flat surface. Abhishek Sharma struggled at the top before being dismissed by Gerald Coetzee in the fourth over. However, fellow opener Samson was in sublime form as he put the South African bowlers to the sword. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter was particularly brutal against the spinners as he didn't allow them to settle down.

Suryakumar Yadav scored a 17-ball 21 before getting out to Patrick Kruger. However, he formed a crucial 66-run partnership off 37 balls with Samson. The latter brought up his half-century off just 27 balls during the partnership.

Tilak Varma joined Samson in the middle and they formed a blistering 77-run partnership off 34 balls. The latter got to his century off just 47 balls. Tilak and Samson were dismissed in the 15th and 16th overs, respectively as South Africa started pulling things back.

Samson departed after scoring a magnificent 107 off 50 balls, hitting seven fours and 10 sixes. This was after Tilak was dismissed for an 18-ball 33. Hardik Pandya perished for a six-ball two as Coetzee and Marco Jansen bowled cleverly at the death. The last 33 balls in India's innings saw them scoring just 35 runs and losing six wickets. The tourists eventually finished on 202/8 in their 20 overs.

Also Check: Twitter Reactions: Sanju Samson slams back-to-back T20I centuries as Kingsmead witnesses batting masterclass

Chakaravarthy, Bishnoi thwart Klaasen and Co. with spin wizardry

In the second innings, Markram hit back-to-back boundaries off Arshdeep Singh in the first over before losing his wicket to a peach of a delivery. Tristan Stubbs, who came out to bat at No. 3, couldn't get going as he was dismissed for a run-a-ball 11. Ryan Rickelton looked good during his brief cameo of 21 off 11 balls. His stay was cut short by Chakaravarthy, who bagged the southpaw's wicket with his second delivery in the match.

South Africa's hopes rested on their two most experienced batters, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller. The duo tried to form a partnership to resurrect the innings. However, Chakaravarthy and Bishnoi bowled very tightly to the two destructive batters and kept them in check. Chakaravarthy conceded just two runs in the 10th over and Bishnoi followed it up by giving away only a single in the 11th as the required run-rate skyrocketed to 13.77.

The Kolkata Knight Riders spinner dismissed Miller and Klaasen in the 12th over to all but end South Africa's hopes of snatching a victory. Jansen and Coetzee entertained the South African fans with some lusty blows towards the back end of the innings before the hosts were bowled out for 141 in 17.5 overs. Chakaravarthy and Bishnoi finished with figures of 3/25 and 3/28, respectively. Meanwhile, Avesh Khan bagged a couple of wickets too.

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