Riding on fifties from KL Rahul 51 (56) and Suryakumar 50 (33), India won the first T20I against South Africa of the 3-match series at Greenfield Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday (September 28). Opting to field first, Rohit Sharma's Men in Blue displayed a dominant bowling performance courtesy of Arshdeep Singh's 3-wicket over and Deepak Chahar knocking over Temba Bavuma's stumps in the first over of South Africa's innings. However, Proteas all-rounder Keshav Maharaj got his team to a respectable total of 106 runs after his team were 9/5 at one point.


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During India's chase of 107, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli departed early on a pitch that aided the pace-bowlers of both sides. KL Rahul was also struggling when Suryakumar Yadav walked in and turned the tables again on the Proteas. After India's win by 8 wicket, fans were not impressed with KL Rahul's slow batting approach in the first T20I and slammed the batter even after he scored a fifty of 56 balls. (IND vs SA 1st T20I scorecard and as it happened HERE)


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After 10 over India's score read 47/2. Suryakumar along with KL Rahul played a sensible knock while gathering boundaries at regular intervals. India needed six runs in 24 balls, and Suryakumar brought up his half-century in 33 deliveries. With a help of a six on the fourth delivery of the 17th over KL Rahul also brought up his fifty and took his side home with an eight wickets victory over Proteas.


Brief score: South Africa 106/8 (Keshav Maharaj 41, Aiden Markram 25; Arshdeep Singh 3-32) vs India 110/2 (KL Rahul 51*, Suryakumar Yadav 50*; Kagiso Rabada 1-16) (With ANI inputs)