Sanju Samson’s century leads India to 202/8 in the first innings of the first T20I against South Africa on Friday at the Kingsmead in Durban.
Sanju Samson’s spectacular second century was superbly matched by spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi as India defeated South Africa by 61 runs in the opening T20 International to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series on Friday.Samson, who has been chastised for failing to recognize his skill, became the first Indian batter to score back-to-back hundred in T20 Internationals with a 50-ball-107 that included as many as ten massive sixes, propelling India to 202 for 8 in 20 overs. This despite India scoring just 35 runs in the last five overs.After South Africa was dismissed for 141 in 17.5 overs, Varun (3/25 in 4 overs) literally ended the match by dismissing Heinrich Klaasen (25 off 22 balls) and David Miller (18 off 22 balls) in three deliveries in the 12th over.
However, Bishnoi (3/28 in 4 overs) deserves all the accolades for his outstanding spell. He bowled Miller five straight dot balls in the eleventh over, making it difficult for the South African batsman to read his googlies as pressure rose on the Proteas, a situation Varun skillfully took advantage of.As an Indian victory seemed merely a formality, Bishnoi followed Varun by taking a few more wickets in the 13th over. After Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan caused the first damage, Varun and Bishnoi bowled a combined total of 27 dot balls on a batting track that was quite good.
