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After dominating South Africa in the 6-match One Day Internationals, the Indian team continued their rampant form in coloured clothing as they walloped the hosts by a comprehensive margin of 28 runs.
South African captain JP Duminy won the toss and invited India to bat first and this decision proved to be a mistake right from the outset as the Indian top order sent the South African fielders on a leather hunt in the batting powerplay as they belted 78 runs in the 6 overs, which was India's highest score ever during that phase.
Shikhar Dhawan continued his imperious form from the ODIs as he smashed 72 runs in 39 balls. The other Indian batsmen chipped in with handy contributions as the visitors piled up 203 in their 20 overs.
South Africa never got going in their steep chase as the Indian bowlers varied their pace and lengths perfectly and kept plugging away at the wickets. JP Duminy and David Miller, the two stalwarts failed to make any decisive contributions and only young Reeza Hendricks managed to put up some sort of a fight as he notched up his maiden half-century.
However, the skill of Bhuvneshwar Kumar was too good for the hosts as the right arm seamer picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is. It was a mere formality for the Indians once they separated Farhaan Behardien and Reeza Hendricks.
India now lead the 3-match T20I series 1-0. The next match will be played at the SuperSport Park, Centurion on March 21, 2018.
Here is how the cricketing world reacted to India's dominance.
JP Duminy, South Africa captain: Very disappointed. In the first six overs with the ball, we were always looking for wickets. In the beginning, we never got partnerships. Back to the drawing board. If you don't get the lines right, you are going to for plenty. We just need to keep working hard and improving. 204 was definitely chaseable but we did not play well. Of course, you cannot fault the new guys like Dala in this format. We, seniors, need to take more responsibilities.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Man of the match: I just wanted to bowl in the right areas. Seeing how they were bowling, we chalked out our plans. When you do well in tough situations, you enjoy it. I have been bowling that knuckleball with the seam up since the last one year. Worked on it in the IPL.
Virat Kohli, Indian captain: The injury was early on. I felt a little bit more stiffness and that is why I went off and get it checked. Very impressive from the boys. Shikhar was outstanding. It was a total team batting performance. With the ball, Bhuvi showing his experience. This was one of our most balanced performances. We never let the run rate drop. This was one of our most balanced performances. We never let the run rate drop less than 10.5. I was thinking maybe 220 at the 16 over mark. The basic message to the team was we are here till 25th. We can't go away before that and have to make the best of every time here.
Other reactions filtering in from the cricketing parleys:
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