Cuttack | Hardik Pandya made a memorable comeback to national colours, striking a mood-lifting unbeaten fifty and then took a key wicket as India etched a dominant 101-run win over South Africa in the opening match of the five-match series here on Tuesday.
The victory helped India take a 1-0 lead in the rubber and it also pushed South Africa to their lowest-ever T20I total. Their previous lowest was also against India -- 87 all out in Rajkot in 2022.
India had been pushed onto the back-foot after SA asked them to bat first on a tacky red-soil surface, but Pandya’s commanding 59 not out off 28 balls rescued them from early turbulence. India posted a competitive 175/6.
On a pitch that demanded discipline, South Africa showed none, to be all out for a mere 74 in 12.3 overs, as the hosts’ bowlers ran through them with relentless accuracy.
Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel grabbed two wickets each, while Pandya fittingly chipped in with the prized scalp of David Miller.
It was also South Africa’s first defeat in three T20Is in Cuttack, and if India had started shakily, South Africa began disastrously.
Arshdeep set the tone with a superb away-swinger that kissed past Quinton de Kock’s tentative prod for a two-ball duck.
In his next over, Arshdeep produced another beauty -- a length ball that jagged back into the in-form Tristan Stubbs (14).
India went upstairs for the review, and UltraEdge confirmed a thick inside edge onto the elbow before Jitesh Sharma completed a sharp take as South Africa were 18/2 inside four overs.
Axar was introduced in the final over of the powerplay and struck immediately.
Aiden Markram, shuffling back to work a skiddy, straight delivery, was beaten on the inside edge to get bowled. At 28/3 in six overs, South Africa were already in a hole.
Pandya then added to their misery, dismissing Miller.
Chakravarthy, operating with sharp drift and deceptive pace, got into action after the powerplay. Donovan Ferreira was late to react to a delivery that held back, and could only nick behind to Jitesh.
Marco Jansen, who had fielded brilliantly earlier, was undone by Chakravarthy’s googly as South Africa slid to 68/6.
The end arrived quickly thereafter with Bumrah, who completed 100 T20I wickets, cleaning up Dewald Brevis and Keshav Maharaj in the space of four deliveries.
Earlier, coming back after 74 days following a left quadricep injury that forced him out of the Asia Cup, Pandya walked in at No. 6 and immediately changed the tempo of the match.
India had slipped in both the power play and middle overs losing six wickets, but Pandya, who had proved his fitness at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Baroda with a 42-ball 77 not out, counter-attacked with clean, fearless hitting to finish en route his sixth T20I fifty.
He began with two towering sixes against Maharaj just after a well-set Tilak Varma (26) fell. Pandya then ripped into Anrich Nortje with a 17-run over, even stepping out to a 149kph thunderbolt to punch it for four.
Jansen tried to rush him with short balls, but Pandya pulled one with vengeance before racing towards fifty that lifted the mood in the stadium.
He struck a six and four off Lutho Sipamla (2/38) in the 19th over, and reached his half-century in 25 balls with a ramped six over third man off Nortje in the final over, celebrating it with a muted raise of the bat.
Pandya's late fireworks helped India add 71 runs in the last six overs.
But on a fresh red-soil surface offering two-paced bounce, India struggled early.
Abhishek Sharma (17), Shubman Gill (4) and Suryakumar Yadav (12) all fell inside seven overs as Lungi Ngidi (3/31) exploited the conditions superbly with clever variations.
He removed Gill early as the batter chipped to Jansen at mid-off, and later had skipper Suryakumar holding out to Markram to have India 17/2.
Abhishek tried to force the pace after the field restrictions lifted, but fell to Sipamla, thanks to a stunning sliding catch by the 2.06m Jansen sprinting across from long leg to fine leg.
His brief stay of 17 off 12 balls ended just as he began to find rhythm with back-to-back boundaries as India soon slipped to 48/3 in 6.3 overs.
Varma looked set while smashing a towering six off Nortje and with two fours in his 32-ball 26 but the Indian innings started to wobble again with him and Axar (23) dismissed by Ngidi and Sipamla respectively.
Cuttack | India skipper Suryakumar Yadav urged his teammates to remain on the fearless cricket path, and was happy to see the batting depth rescuing the team against South Africa in the first T20I here on Tuesday.
Hardik Pandya smashed a sparkling unbeaten 28-ball 59 as India posted 175 for six before bowling out South Africa for 74 in 12.3 overs for a 101-run win.
"I said at the toss that we were 50:50 but happy to bat. At 48 for 3 and to get 175, was great. We thought we would get to 160, but 175 was unbelievable," Suryakumar said during the post-match presentation.
India were 104 for five before making a recovery to post a fighting total.
"With 7-8 batters, there will be days when the other batters cover it up. We want everyone to be fearless and enjoy their batting," he added.
Explaining Pandya’s absence from the powerplay bowling duties, the India skipper said: "I think Arshdeep and Bumrah were the perfect bowlers in the powerplay. Hardik coming back later on, him coming back from injury we had to take care of him."
I was very satisfied with my batting: Pandya
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Returning to international cricket after recovering from a quadricep injury, Pandya smashed six fours and four sixes to lift India to 175 for six.
"I had to back my shots. I realised the wicket had a bit of spice. I had to be a bit gutsy. It was more about timing the ball, not breaking the ball. I was very satisfied with the way I was batting," he said.
Pandya had missed tours to Australia and the ODIs against South Africa after sustaining a left quadriceps injury during the Asia Cup in September.
"The last six-seven months have been great from my fitness point of view. These last 50 days, being away from loved ones, being at NCA, making sure that all these things are covered. It was satisfying when you come here, the results come like this."
On not bowling in the powerplay, Pandya said: "As a cricketer, I have never been fussy about what roles I have in the game. I have always been motivated to make sure that it doesn't matter what Hardik Pandya wants, it is about what India wants.
"The mindset helps me. I have always tried to put my team first. That is my biggest USP and that is what has helped me."
Markram rues lack of partnerships
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South Africa skipper Aiden Markram blamed the lack of partnerships for the heavy loss but said he was keen to move on quickly ahead of the second game.
"Nice to start the way we did. We put some emphasis on starting well, and that was a box we ticked. From a batting point of view, it’s unfortunately something that can happen in this format," Markram said.
"It’s a pity that it had to happen in the first game, but you have to draw a line through it. It’s a quick turnaround and we’ll give it another crack in a couple of days’ time."
Talking about the wicket, Markram said: "I felt it (the pitch) was quite sticky. That steep tennis-ball bounce and a little bit there with the ball throughout the innings. 175, I suppose we would have taken it.
"We would’ve backed ourselves to chase that down. You can always nitpick and find areas where you feel it could have been better to reduce it by 10-15 runs, but we would have taken that."
South Africa’s 74 was their lowest total in T20 Internationals.
"We just needed to be better with the bat, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case. It’s quite hard. Nowadays in T20 cricket, there’s not much time to look around and absorb," Markram said.
"But the biggest factor was obviously not being able to build partnerships, settling after losing wickets and getting some momentum on our side.
"So yeah, we’ll have brief conversations tomorrow. You don’t want to dive too deep into things like this. You almost just want to draw a line through it and stick to the positive ways of this format," he added.
