IND vs SA T20 1: Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul’s unbeaten half-centuries propelled India to an eight-wicket win over South Africa

Two Indian batsmen Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul’s unbeaten half-centuries led India to an eight-wicket win over South Africa in India vs South Africa 1^st T20 at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. Arshdeep Singh’s 3 early wickets along with Deepak Chahar (2/24) and Harshal Patel (2/26) restricted South Africa to a low score and the Proteas only scored 106 runs in 20 overs with an 8 wickets loss.

By winning the toss, Rohit Sharma-led Men in Blue decided to field first on the green wicket, which certainly resulted in good results. Indian bowlers got off to an exuberant start by grabbing 5 wickets for just 9 runs within the first three overs. Opener Quinton de Cock just scored a single run while the skipper Temba Bavuma and Rilee Rossouw went out in duck. Only Aiden Markram stayed a little by scoring 25 runs in 24 balls. But Harshal Patel restricted him in 7.6 overs with an LBW.

Miller and Tristan Stubbs followed their skipper Bavuma’s path as both were out in the first ball itself. Then Wayne Parnell and Keshav Maharaj managed to build a partnership in the most crucial overs as they helped the ship not to sink earlier. Keshav Maharaj becomes the top scorer for South Africa with 41 runs off 35 balls.

Indian bowlers were very good throughout the game and South Africa couldn’t recover from the abysmal start as they ended up with 106 runs in 20 overs. Arshdeep Singh awestruck the audience by picking 3 wickets for India. Deepak Chahar and Harshal Patel both took 2 wickets each. Axar Patel ended with one.

The two young Indian pacers, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel, came in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah proved themselves to be awesome with the swing bowling to lead India to an 8-wicket win over Proteas.

The chase was not even easy for the Indian side as Kagiso Rabada was in operation. Men in Blue got off to a shaky start as the skipper Rohit Sharma was dismissed by Rabada for a duck. Then Anrich Nortje aimed Virat Kohli as he was bowled out in 6.1 overs with just 3 runs in his hands. The pacers exploited the pitch condition perfectly.

KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav held their nerve and guided India to the last point with ease. Once the spinners were brought into action, the momentum swing towards India. Yadav and Rahul put on a match-winning stand of 93 runs with the former playing an aggressive game. Rahul managed to stay longer to build a strong partnership. Both the batters notched up their respective half-centuries at the end.

Rahul made an unbeaten 51 in 56 balls with two boundaries and four sixes. Yadav also remained not out on 50. From 33 balls, he has stroked 5 boundaries and 3 sixes.

Suryakumar Yadav creating histories   

With the astonishing performance, Suryakumar Yadav became the highest run-scorer for India in a calendar year in T20Is. He has completed 732 runs in the T20I format, a record for an Indian batter in a single year. He has got past Shikhar Dhawan’s 689 runs in 2018 in the T20I format.

Yadav’s record is the most special one because of the fact that he has scored these runs at a strike rate of 180.29 and an average of 40.66.

With the two sixes early in the game, Yadav went past Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan to record the most sixes in a calendar year in T20Is. Rizwan had 42 sixes in his name in the year 2021. Yadav has now 45 sixes in his hand in 2022 with three more months to go end of this year. Rizwan took 26 innings to make his 42 sixes, but Yadav has broken the record batting five times fewer.

Yadav is now in the second position in the latest MRF Tyres men’s T20I player ranking with 801 rating points.

It was KL Rahul admits that it was unbelievable to see Yadav come out there and play that kind of shot in a difficult condition.

Both Rahul and Yadav led India to score a total of 110 runs in 16.4 overs with just 2 wickets loss. It is not a straightforward chase for India. But they have gotten over the line and taken an early lead in the 3-match T20 series.

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