Having lost the test series, team India has been on a roll and have bounced back strongly. India handed over a ruthless 5-1 defeat for the hosts in the ODI series and now the T20 series too started with a win. South Africa was defeated by 28 runs in the first T20I at Johannesburg. India now takes a 1-0 lead in the series.
Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s heroics saw India start the T20 series too on a winning note. India took a 1-0 lead in the T20I series as the hosts fell short of 28 runs after India had set a target of 204 runs. Continuing the great run of form Shikhar Dhawan scored 72 from just 39 balls and that’s what took India to a handsome score of 203.
As for India’s bowling it was Bhuvneshwar who was the pick of the Indian bowlers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up 5 wickets for just 24 runs from 4 overs. Jaydev Unadkat, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal picked up one wicket each.
Here’s a statistical tally from the first T20I
A. Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first Indian bowler to pick up a five wicket haul across formats. He now has a five wicket haul each in tests, ODIs and T20Is.
B. Bhuvneshwar Kumar having picked up five also became only the second Indian bowler to pick up a five wicket haul. The first one was the wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. He picked up 5 for 24 in the match yesterday.
C. Shikhar Dhawan played a blistering knock yesterday. His fifty from just 27 balls is the fastest by and Indian in T20I against South Africa.
D. MS Dhoni left behind Kumara Sangakkara to claim yet another record. MS Dhoni now has 134 catches in the shortest format going past 133 by Kumara Sangakkara.
E. This was India’s highest ever total against the Proteas. The previous best was 199 in Dharamshala.
