WATCH: Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar DESTROY South Africa's top order in 1st T20I

IND vs SA 1st T20I: Arshdeep Singh sent back Quinton de Kock (1 off 4 balls), Rilee Rossouw (golden duck), David Miller (golden duck) to pick 2 in his first over of the spell.

Source: Twitter

Team India's pacers Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar combined to break the back o South Africa's top order in the 1st T20I at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on September 28 (Wednesday). Deepak Chahar provided the first breakthrough, cleaning up Tema Bavuma off the first over. Arshdeep Singh then came to his brutal best, picking up 3 wickets in the 2nd over of the innings. He sent back Quinton de Kock (1 off 4 balls), Rilee Rossouw (golden duck), David Miller (golden duck) to pick 2 in his first over of the spell. Deepak returned in the next over to dismiss Tristan Stubbs (another golden duck), all thanks to a brilliant catch in the deep by Arshdeep. (Follow LIVE India vs South Africa 1st T20I 2022 Cricket Match Scorecard and Updates)

Watch the wickets here:

5 wickets summed up in 11 seconds. Watch it here __
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Soon SA were 9/5 and were looking to get bowled out earlier than expected but Aiden Markram stood firm. At the time of writing of this article, SA were still struggling at 42.6. 

Earlier, India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field against South Africa in the first match of the three-match T20I series here at Greenfield International Stadium on Wednesday. Team India are coming off a 2-1 series victory over Australia, with veteran batter Virat Kohli among others striking form. Star pacer Mohammed Shami hasn`t travelled for the first T20I and is still out after recently missing the Australia series due to Covid.

Jasprit Bumrah complained of back pain in during India`s practice session on Tuesday. The BCCI Medical Team assessed him. He is ruled out of the first T20I. Speaking at the time of toss, India skipper Rohit Sharma said, "We are gonna bowl first. It was a good wicket when we played here last time. Bit of green covering but it`s gonna be a good batting track. Very critical to continue to do what you`re doing and keep that momentum in this format. Very healthy atmosphere in the group and we also want to make sure to tick all the boxes and so far we have been doing good and we just want to continue to do that. Hardik and Bhuvi are rested from the last series. Pant and Arshdeep come in for them. Bumrah and Chahal miss out."

Speaking at the time of toss, South Africa Temba Bavuma said, "We probably would have fielded first as well. Good going over the last couple of months. This is an important series for us and we want to continue all the good work. Guys always enjoy the India trip, the energy of the guys is up again and nice to be back in action after a couple of months. Different conditions to Australia but in terms of match practice, it is a great opportunity."

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh.

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi.