South Africa vs India 2018: Statistical preview of the 1st T20I

With the Test and ODI series done and dusted, India and South Africa will now face-off in a three-match T20I series which starts on Sunday 18th February. While the hosts bagged the former 2-1, Indians, riding on the performance of their skipper, bounced back and outplayed the South Africans in every department of the game in the 50-over encounters to win the series 5-1.

Here are the important numbers before the first T20I between the two giants of the sport.

# India were on a three-T20I winning streak against the Proteas in South Africa, however, the hosts halted that run when the two teams met in March 2012.

# India have won their last four T20I encounters, their second-longest winning run in the format after they had won seven in a row between February and March 2016.

# Wanderers, the host of the T20I series opener, has seen South Africa lose their last two T20Is at the venue. This is their worst-ever run in Johannesburg.

However, the hosts won when these two teams last met at the Bullring in 2012.

Head to head record in T20Is

Overall records at the Wanderers

# Virat Kohli has 1956 runs in the shortest format of the sport, 44 short of 2000 runs. As and when the Indian skipper crosses the mark, he will become only the third batsman to achieve the feat.

On top of that, Kohli's average in the format reads 52.9, highest among the batsmen who have played at least 10 T20I innings.

# The 29-year-old Delhite has led India in 10 T20Is (completed T20Is only), winning six of them. On the other hand, South African captain Duminy has captained the hosts on five occasions and won three while two matches resulted in losses.

# While AB de Villiers leads the list of most runs scored (among Indian and South African players) in the format since 2017, Kohli is not far behind at second.