India hand Proteas a thrashing as tourists slump to lowest ever T20I total

With the T20 World Cup a mere seven games away, the Proteas produced an uncertain performance in the opening T20I against India that will have coach Shukri Conrad concerned about where his team is actually going. 

They went down by a mammoth 101 runs, bowled out for just 74 in 12.4 overs, in response to the hosts’ 175/6, which in short format terms is a proper snotklap. 

It was also the Proteas’ lowest ever total in T20Is.

What perhaps mattered more than the defeat was the evidence that tourists are still casting around for a workable method for the tournament here in India and Sri Lanka in just a couple of months’ time. 

From the moment Quinton de Kock edged Arshdeep Singh’s second delivery to second slip, the Proteas were never in the run chase. Tristan Stubbs played a couple of promising drives upon his return to the Proteas after a refresher stint back home, but he too could not prevent Arshdeep from continuing his white- ball dominance over the visitors.

From thereon it became a procession with all of India’s bowlers joining the fray. The Proteas batters displayed ineptitude, naïvety and misplaced ambition, whilst misreading the surface. 

"There was some good form with the ball and field. Some boxes tricked, but the batting went downhill. Pity that it happened in the first game," said Proteas captain Aiden Markram.

"Felt it (the surface) was quite sticky, some tennis ball bounce. We would have taken 175 at the toss. You can always nitpick and say we could have had them 10-15 runs short. But we would have taken it. We didn't have a lot of partnerships."

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy must dream of bowling to the Proteas in every single game, adding another mesmerising spell of 2/19, to the 12 wickets he claimed in just four matches on the tour to South Africa last year. Donovan Ferreira and Marco Jansen were his victims on the night. 

David Miller’s much-anticipated return to international cricket after last playing in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final back in March turned out to be a disappointment with the left-hander managing just a single before he was accounted for by India’s batting hero Hardik Pandya. 

In reverse, Pandya’s comeback after injury was spectacular for India with the allrounder delivering an innings that ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides. 

The Proteas’ seam bowlers, particularly Lungi Ngidi, had bowled well upfront with the new ball with Ngidi picking up two early wickets. 

But they could not deliver the killer blow after reducing India to 105/4 due to Pandya’s counter-attacking brilliance. 

The 32-year-old is a valuable asset to this India team, and showcased his brilliance with an undefeated 59 off just 28 balls to lift the home side into an unassailable position. 

Pandya was particularly devastating at the death with India adding 38 runs off the final 18 deliveries, with another Proteas returnee Anrich Nortje’s (0/41) not quite making the impact he intended after an 18-month absence.

Conrad will have to head back to the drawing board before Thursday’s second T20I in New Chandigarh and hope that his veteran returnees will be better for it after their opening hit out in Cuttack. 

SCOREBOARD

1st T20I 

India: 175/6 (Pandya 59*, Ngidi 3/31, Sipamla 2/38)

Proteas: 74 all out (Brevis 22, Singh 2/14, Bumrah 2/17)

India won by 101 runs, lead series 1-0