What a magnificent win for the India team in the first odi encounter against Proteas at Johannesburg. It was South Africa’s lowest odi total at home. Indian Young fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan were two main destroyers for South African batters as the home side were all out at 116 score.
Highlights of the Match:
In this 1st odi of 3-match odi series, South Africa retained their middle order batters while India on the other side was totally based on new players except captain KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav who were part of Indian odi world cup 2023. Both teams wanted to bat first because this was the same pitch where 3rd t20i was played and batting was easy which in real turned out to be a nightmare for batting first side.
South Africa won the toss and chose to bat first and start was by no means an ideal start for them too. The home side was 2 for 3 runs. Tony de Zorzi showed some resistance as he got a start and made 28 runs on 22 balls but got out. Even the skipper Aiden Makram got bowled early in his innings after making just 12 runs.
Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller also were unable to make any mark with the bat as both got out early 6 and 2 runs respectively. Only Andile Phehlukwayo made 33 runs on 49 balls.
It was all about India’s fast bowlers; Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan as Arshdeep took 5 wickets only for 37 runs in 10 overs while Avesh took 4 wickets for 27 runs in 8 overs. South Africa only managed to score 116 runs and were all out in 27th overs.
When India started their batting, the home side got their first breakthrough early as Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad got out for just 5 runs. But second opener Sai Sudarshan played magnificently well for his 55 runs on 43 balls and from the other end Shreyas Iyer played well for his 52 runs on 45 balls. India easily chased this low total as their final score was 117/2 in just the 16th over. India after win lead this 3-match series with 1-0.
Man of the Match Award:
Arshdeep Singh for his five wicket haul and brilliant bit of bowling was named as Man of the Match award.
Schedule of Next odi Match:
2nd Odi – India vs South Africa – on December 19th, 2023 at Gqebera