Skipper Bavuma leads with a win and South Africa now dominates the series with the scores being 1-0. Newly-appointed captain KL Rahul will be disappointed with the team’s performance, including himself.
The first innings were dominated by the hosts as Bavuma and van der Dussen hit for their century taking the team to 296. South Africa with a good score on board looked positive. The bowling unit too performed well giving South African fans a perfect night to celebrate. Overall performance for the hosts has made the lead to the ODI series with the score being 1-0.
Skipper Rahul was not able to give a good start to team India and got out on 12 runs, while Dhawan made a good comeback but was not able to hold for long, getting bowled by spinner Keshav Maharaj at 79. Shikhar’s start certainly made the Indian fans smile with hope. Virat knocked a brilliant half-century but he too was not able to do what he is known for – “chase-master”. Surprisingly India lost 7 wickets after 138-2 with Pant and Shreyas not able to score more than 16 and 17 respectively. Debutant Venkatesh Iyer had a really bad start to his ODI career as the debutant scored just 2 runs, also didn’t bowl a single over for team India. With the middle order struggling for months now, Thakur seems to perform consistently with bat nowadays. Shardul stood not out for 50* runs but was not able to grab the win for team India as wickets kept falling from the other end. Captain and coach seem disappointed with the overall performance and will hope to fight back in the second ODI.
The spinners, unlike team India’s, performed well – bowling 16 overs and giving away just 82 runs, having bagged in 3 wickets. Debutant Marco Jansen was the only bowler who did not get any wicket and the rest the fiver bowlers chose by skipper Bavuma bagged in wickets. The extra runs given away by team India in the first innings can be the reason for losing this game by the margin of 31 runs. India will surely be disappointed and the fresh squad might have some changes with the players ready to grab the chance.
