The first match of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa was played at Boland Park, Paarl. Batting first, South Africa scored 296 runs for 4 wickets. Indian team could only score 265 runs for 8 wickets.
The first match of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa is being played at Boland Park in Paarl today. South Africa won the toss and decided to bat first. Captain Temba Bavuma and Van der Dussen scored centuries in the prescribed 50 overs to score 296 runs for 4 wickets. Indian team could only score 265 runs for 8 wickets. South Africa took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series after winning the match by 31 runs.
India’s innings, Dhawan,Kohli & Shardul Thakur’s half-century:
Chasing the target of 297 runs from South Africa, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan made a quick start for India. Both took India’s score beyond 50 runs in the first 10 overs. Captain Rahul scored 12 runs and was caught by Quinton de Kock on the ball of Markram. Dhawan continued his batting and completed fifty runs off 51 balls with the help of 8 fours. Playing an innings of 79 runs, he got bowled in an attempt to cut the ball off Keshav Maharaj.
Virat Kohli, who came to play in ODIs for the first time after being removed from the captaincy, completed fifty runs in 60 balls with the help of 3 fours. One run after scoring a half-century, Kohli was caught by Bavuma off the ball of Tabrez Shamsi. The fourth blow to India came in the form of Shreyas Iyer when he was caught behind the wicket by de Kock off Egidi for 17 runs.
Just after Iyer, Rishabh Pant was sent back for 16 runs by Quinton de Kock on Phehlukwayo’s ball with excellent wicketkeeping. Venkatesh Iyer, who came out to play the first ODI, got out trying to hit a big shot after scoring just 2 runs. After this, Ashwin also got bowled on the ball of Phehlukwayo on the score of 7 runs.
South Africa’s batting, Babuma-Dussen’s century:
Quinton de Kock and Jaaneman Malan opened the innings for South Africa. The first blow to the team was given by Jasprit Bumrah by dismissing Malan. He got out after scoring 6 runs. Returning to ODIs after a long time, R Ashwin sent de Kock back after clean board for 27 runs. Aidan Markram was forced to return after being run out for 4 runs on a brilliant throw from Venkatesh Iyer.
Captain Babuma, while handling the innings, completed fifty runs off 76 balls, hitting 4 fours. After the captain, Durren also completed his fifty. He completed this half-century off 49 balls with the help of 4 fours and a six. Captain Bavuma completed his fighting century with the help of 7 fours in 133 balls. Dussen also completed his century in 83 balls with the help of 8 fours and 2 sixes.
Bumuma, playing an innings of 110 runs off 143 balls, was caught by Jasprit Bumrah to captain KL Rahul.
Debut of one player each in both teams–
Venkatesh Iyer debuted for Team India. At the same time, Marco Jensen made his debut for Africa. Talking about Team India, Shikhar Dhawan will open with KL Rahul. The team has three fast bowlers and two spinners. This is Virat Kohli’s first match as a batsman after leaving the captaincy. Many new players like Rituraj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been included in the team sent on the tour. Apart from this, Ravichandran Ashwin has returned to the ODI team after a long time. Shikhar Dhawan has also been selected.
The host team would like to continue the rhythm
Meanwhile, South African team morale will be high after registering a 2-1 win in the Test series. The team would like to continue this momentum in the ODI series against India. However, the Temba Bavuma-led side will not be undermining KL Rahul’s team. The biggest reason for this is India’s last tour of Africa. Then the visiting team had captured the series 5-1.
Team India (Playing XI):
KL Rahul (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
South Africa (Playing XI):
Quinton de Kock (wk), Jaaneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassi van der Dusen, Temba Bavuma (c), David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jensen, Keshav Maharaj, Tabrez Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi
Head to Head:
If we talk about head to head, then the host team seems to have an upper hand. So far 84 ODI matches have been played between India and South Africa. Africa has won 46 matches and India in 35 matches. Three matches are inconclusive. In the last 34 matches, Africa has won 22 and lost 10.