Hardik Pandya shone in his first international appearance following the Asia Cup earlier this year. His showing was backed up by the rest of the bowling attack, too, as India hammered South Africa by 101 runs in the opening T20I at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday.
The start wasn’t at all ideal for India after they were put into bat, with the South African quicks getting some purchase off the track in the initial stages. Hardik’s fluent innings (59 not out off 28 balls) provided India with the much-needed momentum, propelling the team total to a competitive 175/6 with some assistance from Axar Patel (26) and keeper-batter Jitesh Sharma (10 not out), who was preferred over the more experienced Sanju Samson.
With strokeplay getting easier as the game went on, India were still around 15-20 runs short. But Arshdeep Singh made fine use of the new ball, got it to swing and hit the right length to account for opener Quinton de Kock and No. 3 Tristan Stubbs to rock the visitors early on.
Hitting the right lengths and areas turned out to be the main difference between the Indian and South African bowling attacks, something Axar and Hardik too showed when they picked up Aiden Markram and the Proteas’ match-winner David Miller, respectively.
With all the experienced men back in the dugout, the task was too much for the young Dewald Brevis, though he was unlucky to be given out as the third umpire ruled in Jasprit Bumrah’s favour even when the pacer had clearly overstepped. Even Varun Chakravarthy had some fun in between as the Proteas were rolled over for 74, their lowest total ever in T20Is.
In all fairness, it would have been interesting to see how the script would have had unfolded if not for Hardik’s game-changing knock.
At 78/4 towards the end of the 12th over, with Tilak Varma too dismissed, things looked ominous for India. Another comeback man Shubman Gill, beginning with a boundary, was undone the very next ball when Lungi Ngidi adjusted the length quite well.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav warmed up with a four and a six, but completely mistimed an aerial shot to perish at mid-on, giving Ngidi his second. The lanky Marco Jansen’s reach at fine leg helped him take a sharp catch that sent Abhishek Sharma back just as he was getting into his groove.
To give South Africa the upper hand, Ngidi struck for the third time, this time
at deep fine leg to send the reliable Tilak Varma back. That’s when Hardik asserted himself.
The two Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy games he played for Baroda, against Punjab and Gujarat, certainly gave Hardik the game time and rhythm he needed before returning to the international level. On Tuesday, he ensured to cash in on that rhythm.
Teeing off with a couple of maximums off Keshav Maharaj in the 13th over, Hardik pounced onto anything that was in his arc. Of course, Anrich Nortje’s fast but ill-directed stuff further complemented Hardik in his effort to boost India’s scoring rate.
His hand-eye coordination and timing was just as perfect as it could have been, helping him to finish with six boundaries and four maximums.
