David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen scored brilliant half-centuries against India in the first T20i of the series to help South Africa chase down the massive target of 211 runs with 7 wickets to spare.
With the victory, South Africa has stopped the momentum of India, who was on a winning streak of 12 consecutive T20i matches. The match has enabled South Africa to secure a lead in the five March T20i series.
India batted first and almost outplayed the South African team by posting a huge total. Ishan Kishan scored a half-century and finished with 76 off 48. Hardik Pandya played a crucial knock as the finisher for India. He remained unbeaten on 31* off 12. Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad also made significant contributions.
Chasing a massive total, South Africa was under tremendous pressure as they lost Temba Baguma early in the chase. Quinton de Kock also could not last long, and India looked like seizing the initiative in the game.
However, Dwaine Pretorius changed the momentum in favour of Proteas by hitting a few boundaries. Nevertheless, he was dismissed by Harshal Patel to keep India in command.
Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller had a huge task ahead of them, but the duo did not give up. RvD started slowly, but a dropped catch when he was at 29 helped him shift the gears. Miller was at his best as he brought up his fifty in just 22 balls. Together they just kept going until the target was achieved.
It was an exciting game which could have gone either way if Iyer had held on to the catch of RvD. Nevertheless, South Africa now leads the series, and the next match will be played in Cuttack on Sunday.
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