(Image source from: Twitter.com/ICC)
After bagging the T20 series against Australia, Team India is in terrific form and commenced the T20 series against South Africa. The first match of the three T20s took place last night in Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. India won the toss and elected to bowl first. South African top order tumbled down badly because of the Indian bowlers and their pace. South Africa scored 106 for the loss of eight wickets in their 20 overs. Keshav Maharaj (41), Aiden Markram (25) and Wayne Parnell (24) are the top scorers for the side. Among the Indian bowlers, Arshdeep Singh (3/32), Deepak Chahar (2/24) and Harshal Patel (2/26) bagged the most of the wickets and they bowled the best spells.
107 was an easy target for India and the team completed the chase by losing two wickets with 3.2 overs left. KL Rahul who has been struggling for form is back with a strong knock of 51 not out. Suryakumar Yadav (50 not out) is the other top scorer for the side. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had to quit for low scores and Rahul, and Suryakumar Yadav took the team to victory. Kagiso Rabada (1/16) and Anrich Nortje (1/32) took the wickets among the South African bowlers. The second T20 between India and South Africa will take place on Sunday and the final T20 will take place on Tuesday. This series would be a warmup for both the teams as they would head for the T20 World Cup that will start in October.