Player of the Match
Player of the Match

END OF OVER:
20 | 6 Runs 1 Wkt | SA: 175/9 (29 runs required, RR: 8.75)

  • Tabraiz Shamsi0 (2b)
  • Junior Dala2 (3b)
  • Jaydev Unadkat4-0-33-1
  • Jasprit Bumrah4-0-32-0

6:17pm That is all from us tonight. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. We'll see you in two days for the next match. Good night!

Virat Kohli: The injury was early on in the innings. It was in the glutes while taking a single. Thankfully it wasn't a hamstring. So I went off before I would tear a muscle. It was a really good wicket to bat on. Rohit and Shikhar were outstanding at the top. It was a total team batting performance and in the end Bhuvi showing his experience - all in all it was a good team effort. We were looking to do this in T20s for a long. It was one of our most balanced performances. You have to give credit to South Africa for their slog-overs bowling. We were thinking 220 in the 16th over but when Dhoni got out we had to pull it back. In the end it was a winning score. We wanna make the most of the time we have left here. It's an opportunity to play for your country every time and we have fresh faces who are looking for those opportunities at all times so there's a new motivation every time.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: It's amazing to get five in a T20. I just wanted to bowl in the good areas and it's a result of that. Seeing how they were bowling and how the wicket was, we planned our bowling and it worked for us. I enjoy bowling in the tough situations (at the start and end of the innings). The knuckle ball (with the seam up) is something I've been working on for almost a year. Nowadays you need to figure out new ways to get wickets.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the Man of the Match.

JP Duminy: Very disappointed. I think in terms of the first six overs with the fall we're always looking to take some wickets. And they're going to get boundaries. I was happy in fact. But we couldn't get any partnerships in. Pretty happy with our plans but we didn't get the lines right. I thought we could get over the line chasing this target but we didn't put the partnerships together. Very happy with the new guys. You can't fault them, it's up to us experienced batsmen.


WATCH - Phehlukwayo caught at cover (Available only to viewers in the Indian subcontinent)

Chinmay Jariwal: "Considering the nature of pitch, Bhuvi should be named man of the match."

Balashankar: "Bhuvi is like the new age Dravid. Go out there, do what the team needs, nothing else matters. No big smiles, no big celebrations. "

Sada: "Dhawan gloved and SA didn't hear or appeal, could have been the difference :)"

5:57pm India go 1-0 ahead. South Africa were only in this game for brief periods. They pulled India back at the end with their bowling, and they won a period in the middle with their batting. But India had too much firepower to allow them to run away with this. Shikhar Dhawan to start, Bhuvneshwar Kumar to end. Another collapse added to the hosts' unenviable list. Bumrah and Unadkat hit good lengths to contain South Africa's attack and Bhuvneshwar put an end to all nerves with three wickets in the 18th over to go with a run out. Career-best figures for him today. Stick around for the presentation.

19.6
0
Unadkat to Shamsi, no run, bouncer outside off, goes for the hook, beaten
  • Bhuvneshwar's strangle does the trick

    The correlation between intent and wickets is low in T20 cricket. It's more about stifling batman and forcing them into low-percentage shots. Bhuvneshwar Kumar knows that; it is what he did in Jo'burg

  • South Africa's short-ball plan slides wide

    South Africa's plan of bowling short to bridge the gap between India's experienced, confident batsmen and their own struggles went awry when their inexperienced bowlers erred in line

  • A glimmer of hope for Suresh Raina

    With India still searching for a fix in the ODI middle order ahead of next year's World Cup, a good performance in the T20Is against South Africa could set the batsman on the road to a long-term comeback

  • Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar give India 1-0 lead

    Shikhar Dhawan's 72 off 39 balls led India to a total of 203, which they defended comfortably thanks to a five-wicket haul from Bhuvneshwar Kumar

  • New-look SA aim for redemption after ODI debacle

    After the 5-1 defeat in the ODIs, the hosts will be led by JP Duminy in the T20Is while Suresh Raina may feature in India' XI

Bhuvi's blast

1

Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first India fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul in T20Is and with this he is also the first to take five-fors in all 3 International formats.

India's highest

0

No. of 200-plus totals for India against South Africa in T20Is before this match. 203/5 in this match is India's highest score v SA in 11 matches.

Top start

78

Runs for India in powerplays - their most in any T20I. The previous highest was 77 against Sri Lanka in Nagpur in 2009.