Sanju Samson slammed a second successive Twenty20 international century to set up a 61-run win for India in the first of four matches against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.
Opening batter Samson hit 10 sixes and seven fours in a spectacular innings of 107 off 50 balls in an Indian total of 202-8.
It proved more than enough. Leg-spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi bowled in tandem and took three wickets apiece as South Africa crumbled to 141 all out.
Samson vowed to “keep my feet on the ground” after “10 long years of international cricket” during which he has been unable to nail down a regular place in Indian white-ball teams.
His only two previous international centuries have come in the past 12 months –- 108 in a one-day international against South Africa last December and 111 in a T20I against Bangladesh in Hyderabad last month.
“I was in a zone, I just wanted to go with the flow,” he told SuperSport television after his innings, which ended with a leaping catch by Tristan Stubbs on the deep midwicket boundary as he tried to hit another six off leg-spinner Nqaba Peter.
Indian opening bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan both took early wickets in South Africa’s reply before Chakravarthy and Bishnoi bowled immaculately in unbroken four-over spells.
They tied down South African stars Heinrich Klaasen (25) and David Miller (18) before both were dismissed in the space of three balls by Chakravarthy going for big hits.
Suryakumar Yadav, captaining an India team missing many of the country’s leading players, either preparing for a Test series in Australia or representing India A in Australia, praised his team for their attacking approach.
He said he was not concerned by the only blemish in the Indian performance -– losing six wickets and scoring only 35 runs in the last 5.2 overs of their innings after Tilak Varma (33) and Samson fell in quick succession.
“We just want to be fearless,” said Yadav.
South African captain Aiden Markram admitted that Samson had put a largely inexperienced bowling attack under pressure but said he was disappointed with his team’s batting effort.
“It was a really good wicket. We would have loved to have made a much better start,” said Markram.
Brief scores:
India 202-8 in 20 overs (S. Samson 107, T. Varma 33; G. Coetzee 3-37).
South Africa 141 in 17.5 overs (H. Klaasen 25; V. Chakravarthy 3-25, R. Bishnoi 3-28).
Result: India won by 61 runs.
Series: India lead the four-match series 1-0.
Toss: South Africa.
Remaining matches:
November 10, Gqeberha
November 13, Centurion
November 15, Johannesburg
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