Thiruvananthapuram: India beat South Africa by eight wickets in a low target chase in the first T20I match on Wednesday.
The instrumental innings of in-form batsman Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul helped India chase the target of 107 runs in 20 overs. Yadav played a match-winning knock of 50 runs in just 33 deliveries while KL Rahul managed to contribute 51 runs.
The Indian bowling attack dominated the game as Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh walked through the South African batting line up in the first innings. The Proteas were 9 runs for the loss of five wickets in the first three overs of the match.
Keshav Maharaj scored the highest 41 runs while Aiden Markram played a knock of 25 runs. For India Arshdeep Singh bagged three, Deepak Chahar scalped two while Harshal Patel’s late two wickets haul helped India restrict Proteas to a low total.
Deepak Chahar bagged two wickets while Arshdeep secured three wickets in their spells. Skipper Rohit Sharma will move ahead in the series with a confident start and lead.