South Africa vs India 2018, 1st T20I: Things which went right for the visitors

The Virat Kohli-led Team India continued their dominance in the limited overs as they crushed South Africa by 28 runs to win the first T20I of the three-match series at Johannesburg on Sunday.

The win at the Wanderers was India's first T20I win over the Proteas since April 2014.

Put in to bat, the Men in Blue posted their first-ever 200-plus T20I total against South Africa but the hosts' fragility was once again exposed, when they failed to chase down the stiff target in 20 overs.

The second T20I will be played at the SuperSport Park, Centurion on Wednesday, February 21.

Now, let us have a look at the factors that led to India's win as they took a 1-0 lead in the series.

#5 South Africa's batting collapse

South Africa's stand-in skipper JP Duminy was well aware of the fact that no team had ever won a T20I after batting first at the Wanderers and that is why, he won the toss and opted to bowl.

Although India kept losing wickets at regular intervals, riding on Shikhar Dhawan's 72, the visitors posted 203/5, their highest-ever total in T20Is against South Africa.

The hosts started their chase on a positive note but eventually, no batsman other that Reeza Hendricks (70) and Farhaan Behardien (39) was able to show any resistance against India's menacing bowling attack.

It seems that the hosts did not learn any lesson after their humiliating 5-1 defeat in the ODI series as, in the last three overs of their innings, South Africa lost five wickets and scored just 21 runs to fall 28 runs short of India's target of 204.

#4 Dropped catches

South Africa have always been an exceptional fielding side and that is why their clumsiness in the field on Sunday was quite unbelievable.

Other than missing targets and not being able to stop boundaries, the hosts dropped three catches in 20 overs.

On the last delivery of the third over, Suresh Raina danced down the track in an attempt to go big, but, the ball got the top edge of the bat and went up in the air over mid-off.

Farhaan Behardien ran backwards and stretched both his arms to take a catch but failed to hold on to the ball. To add insult to bowler Dane Paterson's injury, the ball burst out of the fielder's hands and raced away to the fence.

Then, on the first ball of the 8th over, Virat Kohli attempted to play a lofted shot down to the ground but mistimed a floated Tabraiz Shamsi delivery.

Once again, Behardien was the culprit as he dropped an absolute sitter to give Kohli an extra life.

Now, it was Shamsi's turn to make a blunder as on the third ball of the 17th over, Manish Pandey played an across shot on Chris Morris' fullish delivery.

Pandey didn't get the elevation and he hit it towards short fine leg. Shamsi went low towards his right and got both his hands on the ball but failed to hang on to it.

To say the least, South Africa's fielding was horrendous and they failed to put any pressure on India as the hosts could have changed the complexion of the game by bagging these catches.

#3 South Africa's depleted squad

Although South Africa won the three-match Test series 2-1, India have managed to completely outplay the hosts in the limited-over games.

After winning the six-match ODI series comprehensively by a margin of 5-1, the Men in Blue outclassed the Proteas in the 1st T20I at Johannesburg.

It would be unfair to discount India's all-around performance but South Africa's depleted squad did make things a little easier for the visitors.

AB de Villiers, who was ruled out of the first three ODIs due to a finger injury, took a blow to his knee the day before the sixth ODI at SuperSport Park on Friday and has not recovered sufficiently to take part in the three-match T20I series.

Just ahead of the second ODI, Faf du Plessis was also ruled out of the series due to an injury and 23-year-old Aiden Markram was made the stand-in skipper for the hosts.

Then, before the start of the third ODI, Quinton de Kock joined the stalwarts on the sidelines as South Africa included uncapped wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen in their playing XI.

De Kock sustained the injury during the 2nd ODI at SuperSport Park and will require 2-4 weeks to make a recovery.

#2 Shikhar Dhawan's fireworks

Shikhar Dhawan continued his fine run of form from the recently-concluded ODI series to put India on the front foot as he smashed 72 off just 39 balls at the Wanderers.

Put in to bat by JP Duminy, Dhawan's blitz provided the platform for India to post their highest-ever total in Johannesburg.

Despite the regular fall of wickets on the other end, the Delhi batsman did not flinch as raced to fifty off 27 balls, his fourth in T20Is, with the help of two sixes and six boundaries.

The Indian opener added a valuable 47-run fourth-wicket stand with Manish Pandey before eventually falling in the 15th over to Andile Phehlukwayo, as India went on to post a handsome total of 203/5 from their 20 overs.

#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar's five-wicket haul

India's pacers, especially Bhuvneshwar Kumar, struggled to claim wickets in the recently-concluded six-match ODI series, while wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were the wreckers in chief.

However, Bhuvneshwar was at his imperious best as the format shifted to 20 overs and finished with career-best figures of 5/24 from his four overs.

He became the first Indian pacer to pick up a five-for in the T20Is and is now the first from the country to claim five-wicket hauls in all the formats of the game.

The 28-year-old pacer had claimed just two wickets in the form of JJ Smuts and JP Duminy when he came to bowl his fourth and the 18th over of South Africa's innings.

Bhuvneshwar triple strike to remove - Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Chris Morris - in an over completely dismantled the hosts as they lost the match by 28 runs.

"It's amazing to get five in a T20. I just wanted to bowl in the good areas and it's a result of that. Seeing how they were bowling and how the wicket was, we planned our bowling and it worked for us. I enjoy bowling in the tough situations (at the start and end of the innings). The knuckle ball (with the seam up) is something I've been working on for almost a year. Nowadays you need to figure out new ways to get wickets", said Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Man of the Match.