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SAvIND, 1st T20I: Sanju’s day out in Durban makes it 1-0!

By Mumbai Indians

Another day, another Sanju Samson special!

Put in to bat first by hosts’ skipper Aiden Markram, the Indian cricket team smashed a cracking 202/8 courtesy of history-maker Sanju Samson, who banged his second successive century in T20Is.

In response, the South African cricket team fell like a pack of cards as none of their batters got going against a disciplined Indian bowling line-up.

Read on to relive another victorious evening for the reigning T20 champions.

Power-Play ft. Samson and Surya dada

Team India made full use of the first six overs, taking on the Proteas bowlers with an attacking approach.

Despite Abhishek Sharma’s early dismissal, the visitors’ plans remained unchanged as they racked up 56 runs with the help of six fours and four maximums.

Opener Sanju Samson and aamcha SKY played some exquisite shots to put the pressure on the opposition early on in the contest… Which didn’t stop even after the powerplay phase concluded! 

It’s Sanju Sam-TON, yet again!!!!

Well, it would be fair enough to say that Sanju bhau is cementing that opening slot for himself and also filling the mighty shoes of Rohit Sharma in some style!

The 29-year-old picked up from where he left off against Bangladesh less than a month ago, registering back-to-back centuries to become the first Indian to achieve the feat in the T20Is.

Striking at an astonishing rate of 214, Samson reached his century in just 47 balls, graced with seven boundaries and nine mesmerising maximums.

The absolute cinema knock set the tone for Team India to be well on course for another 200+ total, which they successfully recorded.

Birthday boy Tilak Varma’s handy cameo

Featuring in his first international game since January earlier this year, our Varma ji didn’t show any signs of rustiness as he went about his business, scoring 33 off 18 balls, including THIS shot that made the fans go… ek number shottttt re, bhava!

The Southpaw’s contribution acted as a catalyst in gifting his team a 200+ total, with the fuel seemingly depleting towards the end of the innings.

Over to you, bowlers!

A total of 200+ is always a tough ask for the chasing side, irrespective of the conditions and nature of the pitch… and it was no different for the Proteas.

The Aiden Markram-led side lost their top order within the powerplay phase as Team India continued to make inroads at 44/3.

The pair of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller did try to steady the ship with a 42-run partnership, which was ultimately broken by Varun Chakaravarthy.

Nonetheless, a target of 203 runs arguably looked far-fetched given the way South Africa started their chase. Thanks to Chakaravarthy and Bishnoi’s three-wicket hauls, the Proteas were bundled out for 141 in 17.5 overs.

 

Brief scores: India 202/8 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 107, Tilak Varma 33; Gerald Coetzee 3/37) beat South Africa 141/10 in 17.5 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 25; Varun Chakaravarthy 3/25, Ravi Bishnoi 3/28) by 61 runs.