“From January, we play a lot of T20s”. He ran amok with 7 fours and a six, and bagged a 32 ball 51 in no time. Four balls later, he cut one through point to finish the proceedings.
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South Africa began the tour with an early advantage. Sharma, who set out to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan, got off the mark with a drive through covers for a boundary.
At the other end, Ashwin undid de Villiers by reducing pace and drawing the batsman forward. “The World Cup is round the corner so we have to make the most out of T20 games we play from now on”. Dhawan’s valiant dive wasn’t enough to save his wicket as India were reduced to 22/1 in 3.1 overs. Suresh Raina scored the maiden T20I century by an Indian at the 201O World T20 against the same opponents.
The Rohit-Kohli 138-run second wicket partnership enabled India to launch a no-holds-barred charge in the death overs.
The Mumbai batsman, however, added that the Indians were well prepared for the massive series.
India: 168 for 6 beat South Africa: 147 for 9 by 21 runs.
Kyle Abbott stemmed the rot by dismissing Kohli first and then Sharma in the space of four balls.
Pacer Srinath Aravind was given his debut by India.
The next over from young fast bowler Kagiso Rabada produced 14 runs with Sharma taking two sixes as India raced to 129-1 in 13 overs.
De Villiers also stepped out to Yuzvendra Chahal to hit over the mid-on region.
The South African team had a two-and-half hour session at the Air force ground with likes of Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy having a quality net session. After that it was only about delaying the inevitable. He punished the Indian bowlers with seven sixes.
What was shaping to be thrilling encounter and could have been the highest successful run-chase in Twenty20 Internationals was spoiled by the rain.
Nevertheless, Dhoni admitted that the South African batsmen kept the momentum flowing, which aided them in a big chase. Courtesy his 66-ball 106, India scored 199-5 in 20 overs.
Dhoni also offered words of encouragement for Axar, who finished with figures of 4-0-45-0. He completely guided South Africa to Victory in T20 global match. However, three wickets fell in quick succession, run-rate dropped and the initiative handed over.
Virat Kohli was in top form in the tournament..
South Africa go into the opening match recovering from a stunning eight-wicket defeat by an effectively third-string Indian side in a practice T20 match in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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The T20 captain will be a major player for his team on this tour and he knows the Indian captain, MS Dhoni, well from their time together at the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. With 44 to win from 24 balls, South Africa suffered a few anxious moments but, with Duminy preferring to hit beyond the fence, there was little doubt that the side would win.
