English
Rohit Sharma’s century went in vain as South Africa beat India by seven wickets in the first Twenty20 International at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) in Dharamsala on Friday. AB de Villiers and JP Duminy struck half century to help South Africa take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Chasing a target of 200 to win, South Africa romped home comfortably with two balls remaining. De Villiers and Hashim Amla gave the visitors a good start, smashing 60 runs in the first five overs. However, three wickets fell in quick succession, run-rate dropped and the initiative handed over. Nonetheless, Farhaan Behardien and Duminy took advantage on the dew in the outfield to take the Proteas beyond the Indian total. It was only the third time a team won a T20I despite a opposition batsman scoring a century. South Africa have now been involved in all three matches.
Earlier in the day, a specially minted coin was unveiled with the engraving of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela on it. The coin will be used in all India vs South Africa encounters henceforth. South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl, hoping that dew would play a crucial part in the match. It did play an important part, but would be fair to say that if affected both sides equally. The team compositions were almost alike, with both sides playing six frontline batsmen and one all-rounder.
In a game meant for butchers and innovators, conventional beauty is a rare sight of batsmanship which Rohit Sharma put on display today. Sharma, who set out to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan, got off the mark with a drive through covers for a boundary. That shot had set the tempo and became the feature of his innings which didn’t fail to mesmerise till it lasted. The Mumbai Hitman scored boundaries at will – drives to full pitched deliveries and pulls to the shorts ones.
The innings was rather peculiar, for never before was a T20 century devoid of slogs shots. The format does not allow enough time for batsmen to settle in, for shots to flow, for grace to enchant you. Time is constantly ticking with each passing ball. The sense of urgency to score runs often makes batsmen do weird things. Batting becomes less beautiful in the bargain of mocking the field setting and making the bowlers miserable. Sharma’s innings was not a quintessential T20 knock; there was grace in the pulls, cuts, drives and tap shots, worthy to derive applause out of a Test match connoisseur.
After losing Dhawan early, run-out while trying to steal an additional run off a misfield, Virat Kohli and Sharma put on a century stand for the second wicket. Boundaries kept flowing every over, some generated by the batsmen, while the others being poor deliveries getting the desired results. Kohli didn’t play out too many dot deliveries. He passed on the strike to Sharma who was in sublime touch.
At the end of 15 overs, India were placed at 157 for one, looking set for a total well in excess of 200. With the dew in the outfield making the ball wet and difficult for the bowlers to grip, the situation was only becoming worse for South Africa. However, two wickets fell in quick time and both Kohli and Sharma made their way to the pavilion.
In the process of scoring his 66-ball 106, he became the second Indian batsman to score a century in all forms of the game, putting to question his own quashing comments about ‘talent’. Ironically, Suresh Raina is the only other batsman to have achieved the feat, yet another player often ostracised for not translating all the talks of ‘talent’ into something more substantial.
The South African pacers pitched it straight and pull, with the odd ball slipping out of their hands. But the Indian middle-order failed to take advantage of the position they were in. Dhoni hung on till the end, finishing the innings with a one-legged six muscled straight down the ground, scene often played out in the past. However, in the end, India’s 199/5 didn’t prove enough.
Brief scores:
India 199 for five in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 106, Virat Kohli 43; Kyle Abbott 2 for 29) lost to South Africa 200 for three in 19.4 overs (AB de Villiers 51, JP Duminy 68*; Ravi Ashwin 1 for 26) by seven wickets.
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