Suryakumar Yadav in action for Indian cricket team© X (Twitter)
South Africa cricket team fast bowler Patrick Kruger bowled 11 balls in a single over but ended up dismissing India skipper Suryakumar Yadav with his final delivery during the first T20I encounter in Durban on Friday. Kruger did not look in good rhythm as he ended up conceding three wides and two no-balls in the first over of his spell. However, on the last ball of the over, he went for a knuckle ball and Suryakumar miscued his shot. The ball sailed towards deep square leg and Andile Simelane completed the catch.
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As for the match, Sanju Samson’s breathtaking second century was beautifully complemented by spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi as India outclassed South Africa by a whopping 61 runs in the first T20 International to go 1-0 up in the four-match series on Friday.
Often criticised for not realising the minefield of talent that he is, Samson became the first Indian batter to hit back-to-back centuries in T20 Internationals as his 50-ball-107 with as many as 10 monstrous sixes took India to 202 for 8 in 20 overs.
This despite India managing a mere 35 runs in the last five overs.
In reply, it was Varun (3/25 in 4 overs), who literally killed the contest by getting Heinrich Klaasen (25 off 22 balls) and David Miller (18 off 22 balls) in a space of three deliveries in the 12th over with South Africa being shot out for 141 in 17.5 overs.
But no praise is enough for Bishnoi (3/28 in 4 overs), who delivered a brilliant spell of 3/28 in 4 overs. In the 11th over, he bowled five consecutive dot balls to Miller, leaving the South African batter struggling to read his googlies as pressure mounted on the Proteas which was expertly capitalized on by Varun.
In the 13th over, Bishnoi followed Varun by getting a couple of wickets more as an Indian victory became a mere formality.
On a reasonably good batting track, Varun-Bishnoi duo bowled 27 dot balls between them after Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan did the initial damage.
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