Ind vs SA, 1st ODI: Hosts lose by 9 runs, trail 0-1 in series

LUCKNOW: India lost to South Africa by 9 runs in a 40-over rain-truncated match played here at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. With this defeat, Shikhar Dhawan-led India are now trailing the Proteas 0-1 in the three-match ODI series.

Chasing a massive 250-run target in 40 overs, Team India got off to the worst possible start as opener Shubman Gill was cleaned up by pacer Kagiso Rabada for 3. Skipper Shikhar Dhawan was sent packing by Wayne Parnell for 4 as India lost their second wicket for 8.

The Protea bowlers bowled a tight line and did not allow Indian batters to score runs freely as the hosts could only score 18 runs in eight overs of powerplay.

Spinners came into the attack with Tabraiz Shamsi giving India the third blow by dismissing debutant Ruturaj Gaikwad at 19, stumped by keeper Quinton de Kock. The hosts scratched their way to the 50-run mark in the 18th over. Ishan Kishan was also sent packing by Keshav Maharaj to leave his side tottering at 51/4.

With India losing wickets and the required rate consistently going higher, they desperately needed a partnership and Shreyas Iyer, along  with Sanju Samson, did just that. The Iyer-Samson duo hit boundaries to strike a 50-run partnership and take the team’s total beyond the 100-run mark in 22.3 overs.

Shreyas Iyer notched up his half-century in just 33 balls. The 67-run partnership was broken by Lungi Ngidi who got the prized scalp of Iyer for 50 as India lost half of their side for 118.

Shardul Thakur joined Samson and the duo batted well to take India’s total beyond 150-run mark in 31.1 overs. The Samson-Thakur duo notched up a 50 partnership off 43 balls to keep India in the hunt. Samson went on to score his half-century off 49 balls and in the process, India went past the 200-run mark in 36.5 overs.

The 83-run partnership was broken as Shardul Thakur was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi for 33 off 31 balls as India lost their sixth wicket for 211. In the very next ball, Kuldeep Yadav was dismissed, giving hosts a double blow.

In the next over Avesh Khan was sent packing by Rabada for 3. With 29 runs needed off the last over. Samson tried hard and scored 20 runs of Shamsi’s over, but it was too little too late for India as they could score 240/8 in 40 overs falling short of target by 9 runs.

Earlier in the day, put to bat, openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock gave South Africa a slow but steady start. The partnership was broken as Shardul Thakur dismissed Janneman Malan for 22 as the Proteas lost their first wicket for 49.

A few overs later, Shardul struck again, cleaning up skipper Temba Bavuma for 8 as the visitors lost their second wicket for 70. In the next over, Kuldeep Yadav bowled a beautiful delivery to get rid of Aiden Markram for a duck to leave South Africa in a spot of bother at 71/3.

Heinrich Klaasen then joined wicket-keeper batter de Kock and the duo took their team’s total beyond the triple-figure mark. The 39-run partnership between the two was broken by leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi as he dismissed de Kock for 48 to leave South Africa tottering at 110/4.

David Miller joined Klaasen and these two took the team’s total beyond the 150-run mark in 28.3 overs. The Miller-Klaasen partnership continued and the duo crossed the 50-run partnership mark in 45 balls.

Southpaw Miller went on to score his half-century off 50 balls. The Proteas went past the 200-run mark in 35.5 overs. Klaasen too notched up his half-century in 52 balls as the visitors looked set for a big score.

India’s fielding was pretty average as they dropped important catches: first Mohammad Siraj dropped Miller and then, in the next ball, Klaasen was dropped by debutant Bishnoi of consecutive deliveries of Avesh Khan’s bowling. The Miller-Klaasen pair went past the triple-figure mark in just 84 balls and took the team’s total to 249/4 in 40 overs.

Brief scores: South Africa 249/4 in 40 overs (David Miller 75, Heinrich Klaasen 74; Shardul Thakur 2/35) vs India 240/8 (Sanju Samson 86*, Shreyas Iyer 50; Lungi Ngidi 3/52, Kagiso Rabada 2/36). (ANI)