JOHANNESBURG: In the opening One-day International at The Wanderers on Sunday, India easily defeated South Africa by eight wickets thanks to the seamers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan, who helped bowl them out for 116 before Sai Sudharsan made an undefeated 55 on his debut.
Having won the toss and chosen to bat, South Africa’s move proved disastrous as they were bowled out for their lowest score in the 50-over format on home soil, just missing the previous worst total of 118 in Pretoria, also against India, in 2018.
Seven of the South African batters were either bowled or dismissed leg before wicket as a result of the wicket-to-wicket line that Khan and Singh bowled. Singh took five wickets for 37 runs in his ten overs, while Khan took 4-27 in eight.
Before becoming Singh’s fifth and last victim, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo provided some resistance for the hosts with 33 from 49 balls.
After playing in his first ODI in over a year, Singh stated, “The plan was to keep it simple.” “It is truly special to receive a five-for because I hadn’t opened my account in One-Day Internationals after playing three games before this.
We tried to stick to the fundamentals and use the appropriate lengths because the wicket was helpful.
“The plan was to hit the wickets and look for leg before wickets, but there was a nice breeze and some purchase off the wicket, so we were surprised because we thought there wouldn’t be much movement before the game.”
For his career-best bowling figures in One-Day Internationals, Khan removed the middle and lower order. India played well in the chase, reaching their objective in 16.4 overs with precisely 200 balls remaining.
Sudharsan, a left-handed opener making his debut, amassed a sophisticated 55 runs off 43 balls, including nine fours. Shreyas Iyer, who had scored 52 from 45 balls and was caught with victory in sight, supported him.
Tuesday’s match in the three-match series is scheduled to take place in Gqeberha.
Many of the regular players for both teams are out due to injury or rest for the upcoming two-match Test series.
SOUTH AFRICA:
R. Hendricks b A. Singh 0
T. de Zorzi c Rahul b A. Singh 28
R. van der Dussen lbw A. Singh 0
A. Markram b Khan 12
H. Klaasen b A. Singh 6
D. Miller c Rahul b Khan 2
W. Mulder lbw Khan 0
A. Phehlukwayo lbw A. Singh 33
K. Maharaj c Gaikwad b Khan 4
N. Burger b K. Yadav 7
T. Shamsi not out 11
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, W-10) 13
TOTAL (all out, 27.3 overs) 116
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-3 (Hendricks), 2-3 (van der Dussen), 3-42 (de Zorzi), 4-52 (Klaasen), 5-52 (Markram), 6-52 (Mulder), 7-58 (Miller), 8-73 (Maharaj), 9-101 (Phehlukwayo)
BOWLING: Kumar 7-0-46-0 (2w), A. Singh 10-0-37-5 (5w), Khan 8-3-27-4 (3w), K. Yadav 2.3-0-3-1
INDIA:
R. Gaikwad lbw Mulder 5
S. Sudharsan not out 55
S. Iyer c Miller b Phehlukwayo 52
T. Varma not out 1
EXTRAS (NB-1, W-3) 4
TOTAL (for two wickets, 16.4 overs) 117
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-23 (Gaikwad), 2-111 (Iyer)
DID NOT BAT: K.L. Rahul, S. Samson, A. Patel, A. Singh, A. Khan, K. Yadav, M. Kumar
BOWLING: Burger 5.4-1-35 (1w), Mulder 4-0-26-1 (1w, 1nb), Maharaj 3-0-19-0, Shamsi 3-0-22-0 (1w), Phehlukwayo 1-0-15-1
RESULT: India won by eight wickets.