India has thrashed South Africa by eight wickets in the first one day international at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. The tourists were set a victory target of just 117 runs after a spectacular batting collapse by the Proteas.
Dressed in their pink attire for their annual breast cancer awareness match, the Proteas opted to bat first after winning the toss and elected to bat first at the Bullring. But it turned out to be a disasterous decision. The wickets of opener, Reeza Hendricks, and Rassie van der Dussen fell in quick succession, and the hosts were on three for two in just the second over.
Tony de Zorzi and Markram then tried to steer the ship to safety. They added 39 runs for the third wicket, before De Zorzi was dismissed for 28 off 22 deliveries. Heinrich Klaasen made six, and then Markram returned to the pavilion, out for 12 and the Proteas in big trouble on 52 for five. The rest of the batters didn’t fare much better, and struggled against the precision bowling of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
Andile Phehlukwayo top scored for the South Africans and contributed 33 runs. But David Miller was dismissed for two, Wiaan Mulder for a duck, Keshav Maharaj for four and Nandre Burger for seven. Tabraiz Shamsi finished not out on 11. Singh took five for 37 in his 10 overs, while Khan claimed four for 27 in eight overs.
In reply, India started like a house on fire. But in the fourth over, Mulder trapped Rutaraj Gaikwad leg before wicket for five with the score at 23 for one. India, however, were unperturbed. Although Phehlukwayo eventually got rid of Shreyas Iyer for 52, India made short work of the chase. They hit the winning runs with 33 and a half overs to spare and took the early lead in the three-match series, in emphatic fashion.
“Naturally, winning the toss and batting first, we would’ve liked to put on a really good score, but credit to how the Indian attack bowled to us. They made it really tough with a bit of lateral movement off the wicket and we weren’t able to get settled on that pitch and build partnerships. So, behind from the very start, and we weren’t able to pull our way back,” says Aiden Markram, Proteas Captain.
The second ODI will be played in Gqeberha on Tuesday followed by the final match in Paarl on Thursday.
