New Delhi. Indian cricket fans who were saddened by Rohit Brigade’s historic defeat were treated to a reassuring game on Friday. The Indian team, which toured South Africa under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, started with a win. India defeated South Africa by 61 runs in their first game. Sanju Samson was the hero of this victory. He played a storming innings scoring 107 runs. This is his second consecutive T20 International century. He is the first Indian to achieve this feat. With this win, India took a 1-0 lead in the four-match T20 series.

Coming first in the Durban match, India scored 202 runs for 8 wickets. Indian batsmen took full advantage of South African captain Aiden Markram’s invitation. Aiden Markram won the toss for the batsmen on the Aishgah pitch and asked India to bat first. Opener Sanju Samson’s wish came true. He scored a century in 47 balls. Sanju Samson was eliminated after scoring 107 runs in 50 balls. How aggressive Sanju’s innings must have been can be seen from the fact that he hit ten sixes and seven fours. Sanju Samson was adjudged man of the match in this innings.

While Sanju Samson played a strong innings for India while batting, Varun Chakraborty and Ravi Bishnoi performed brilliantly while bowling. Both spinners took 3-3 wickets and brought the host team to their knees. Avesh Khan took two wickets while Arshdeep Singh got one wicket. However, it was Arshdeep Singh who started taking wickets as he dismissed opposition captain Aiden Markram in his very first over.

The South African team never recovered after losing the wicket of captain Markram (8) in the first over. It also lost the wickets of Tristan Stubbs (11) and Ryan Rickleton (21) in the powerplay itself and fell behind. After that, African fans had expectations from the IPL’s most expensive batsmen, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, but both of them also failed to live up to the expectations. Klaasen was eliminated after 25 runs, Miller after 18 runs. With the loss of the fifth wicket in the form of Miller for 87 runs, South Africa’s defeat was certain. Gerald Coetzee (23) eventually took his team past 140 runs with some fanfare.

Keywords: India vs. South Africa, Sanju Samson, South Africa, Team India