JP Duminy feels partnerships were key to South Africa's victory over India in the 1st T20I

Duminy forged an unbroken 105-run partnership with Behardrien as South Africa beat India in the 1^st T20I

Jean-Paul Duminy feels partnerships were key to South Africa’s victory over India in the T20 series opener at Dharamsala on Friday night, Deccan Chronicle reports. The match-winner also credited the bowlers for restricting the hosts t0 199, when a score of 220 looked very much on the cards.

South Africa won the 1^st T20 by seven wickets as they chased down India’s total with two balls to spare thanks especially to Duminy’s 34-ball 68. He forged an unbroken 105-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Farhaan Behardrien that took the game away from India, but Duminy feels equal credit should be given to the 77-run stand put on by Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers for the opening wicket.

"The start was crucial for us. I think the key was that we did not lose wickets in the six overs. And the way AB and Hash (Amla) played was exceptional,” Duminy said.

Talking about his stand with Behardrien, he said: "We tried to stay in the moment and understand what was required at particular time. We have batted together a few times and our understanding has improved. The focus was to build partnership, the required run-rate was 14-15 at that time."

Speaking after the match, Duminy had expressed his delight at scoring 22 runs off the the 16^th over bowled by Axar Patel. The 31-year-old felt that it was the turning point in the match.

“The turning point was the 16th over. We tried to find a big over and that was 16th," he said.

Duminy acknowledged that the toss was a crucial factor in the match outcome and revelaed that the team management had been wary of the dew factor they were likely to encounter on Friday.

"We had a fielding practice in the night and we realised that there was lot of dew and it will be a factor in this match. We have always backed our bating line up to chase any total. Cuttack may not be the same but we made the right decision in the end," Duminy said.

The dimunitive left-hander has started the Indian tour with a bang. Before his match-winning knock yesterday, Duminy had made another unbeaten 68 in the warm-up T20 match against India A. Though he ended up on the losing side on that occasion, he felt the match had served its purpose of getting used to the Indian conditions.

Duminy feels the T20 warm-up game against India A helped in him in his knock on Friday

"The warm-up played a big part. Having two months off, you want to start off with a bang. I enjoyed the break and the warm up game was my first in two months. I needed to read the ball quickly. That worked for me in this game," he said.

Duminy acknowledged that the Indian tour will be a challenging one but was delighted that his side was able to draw the early advantage and also credited the South African bowlers for restricting the Indian score from reaching an unassailable one.

“In the last week, we spoke a lot about competing on this tour. We knew no matter whatever is thrown at us, we needed to have a counter punch. He (Rohit Sharma) played an exceptional innings but the way we came in last four overs was good for us. At one stage, we were looking at chasing 220 and that could have been a winning total for India," Duminy said.