Shrewd South Africa Give a Reality Check to India
South Africa continued their momentum from Test Series to the 1st ODI Match. They defeated India by 31 runs to take lead of 1-0 in 3 Match ODI Series. SA (South Africa) would be relieved as they grabbed 10 invaluable points. South Africa looks a force to reckon with as defeating a Powerful India team doesn’t happen overnight.
South Africa had won the toss & elected to bat first. India started a new era in white ball as K.L. Rahul became the captain (*In absence of Rohit Sharma who is nursing an injury). SA had given a humongous total of 297 runs for Rahul’s brigade. India had a productive power-play as they scored 55 runs in 10 overs. Shikhar Dhawan who was making a comeback after injury made the most of the opportunity. Shikhar & Virat made the target look extremely easy.
Both the batters got stick to the crease. Skipper Temba Bavuma sensed that the things are getting out of hand & then he gave the ball to the left arm off spinner Keshav Maharaj. Maharaj castled Dhawan’s stumps & all of a sudden there was a twist in the story. Dhawan scored 79 runs in 84 balls.
Once again, the onus was on Virat Kohli to take the team out of trouble but SA tightened up the screws & that yielded in Virat’s wicket. Virat was undone by Tabraiz Shamsi, the left arm chinaman. Virat scored 51 runs in 63 balls. The wicket of both Shikhar & Virat opened the gates for SA. The remaining batters just fell like a pack of cards. In the end at No.9 Position Shardul Thakur scored a fiery half-century of 43 balls, which was a bit too late.
There was team work since in bowling unit every bowler had a wicket to his name. The manner in which Bavuma marshalled his troops was amazing as he rotated his bowlers next to none. SA would know that well begun is half done. They would be hoping to wrap up the ODI Series on 21st January as they know India has a lot of loop-holes.
Earlier, SA were jolted & reduced to 68/3 inside 18 overs. It looked as SA have throwed down the towel. Then the Skipper Temba Bavuma & the Rising Rassie van der Dussen stitched a gigantic partnership of 204 runs. Both the batters notched up centuries. Bavuma played the second fiddle as he scored 110 runs in 143 balls whereas Rassie played the role of enforcer by scoring a fiery knock of 129 runs in 96 balls. The batters were quite crystal clear with their roles. India’s bowlers had an off day as none of them did justice to their reputation.
India needs to pull up their socks as one more performance like this would mean that ODI Series is gone. The middle order of India once again got exposed. How long India will hold Virat accountable for India’s loss? No,4, 5 & 6 batters are responsible to team’s fate which should be kept in mind by selectors.
