How South Africa Cricket Resisted Samson’s Hitting To Win ODI 2022 Series Opener Against India Cricket

2022/11/24

Batting first, South Africa Cricket accumulated 249/4 in the 40-over game whereas India cricket managed to reach 240/8 despite monstrous hitting in the late overs by Sanju Samson.

How South Africa Cricket Resisted Samson’s Hitting To Win ODI 2022 Series Opener Against India Cricket

South Africa Cricket Team Openers Resist Early Bowling Masterclass

The number of swings India cricket’s pacers were getting from the first delivery was amusing. Both Janeman Malan and Quinton de Kock were visibly having a hard time playing the ball late because it was swinging miles in both directions.

Despite god bowling, the SA openers kept their stay and did not fall prey to Indian cricket. They provided a solid stand to the middle order before Malan departed for his patient knock of 22 off 42 and then de Kock on 48 while trying to reverse sweep Ravi Bishnoi.

It was not just the swing that the batters had to deal with, the ball was spinning extraordinarily as well.

Kuldeep Yadav’s wrist spin bamboozled and he even dismissed Aiden Markram in the oddest ways possible as the South Africa cricket batter got a leg and middle stumps rattled while trying to defend it on the off stump.

South Africa Cricket's Bavuma Continues To Fall

Temba Bavuma is known for acing the ODIs and Tests so most pundits were expecting him to shut his critics with a good performance in the ODI 2022 series opener. But he failed to enter the double figures again.

He had a conscious start to his inning, misjudged a Shardul Thakur in-swinger, and returned to the pavilion on 8 of 12, including two fours.

He has been inviting criticism for his low strike rate as an opener in T20Is, but this series can be his tool to make a comeback, playing a fiery knock at number 3, and walk into the upcoming T20 World Cup with his head held high.

Thakur Returns To India Cricket With A Good Performance

Thakur is not your go-to bowler to land 145km/h deliveries, but he can still chip Wickes away with his swing and length bowling. That’s exactly what he did for his skipper Shikhar Dhawan.

When put into the opening spell, he dismissed Malan and then the South Africa cricket captain to keep the visitors in check for a while.

Thakur Returns To India Cricket With A Good Performance

He registered figures of 35/2, earning him the best economy (4.38) among other Indian cricket bowlers.

In the second innings, he was equally impressive with his bat. The 30-year-old all-rounder struck 33 off 31 though it was just insufficient to take his team over the line. He hit five fours in the process.

Klaasen And Miller Push India Cricket Into The Corner

Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller were watching the leather ball like a football. After taking just a few balls on the wicket to settle themselves, they hit a flurry of boundaries and rotated the strike as well to keep the scoreboard ticking.

With the early blows of Bavuma and Markram, it seemed like the duo would keep playing the ball around for singles and doubles until the final overs, but they continued to play it the way they play without absorbing any pressure and punishing the bad deliveries.

Klaasen, who was the SA captain before Bavuma, hit 76* off 65 to take home the Player of the Match award. He hit two sixes and six fours to accumulate the runs at a strike rate of 114.

His partner at the other end just picked up where he left off. Miller lived up to the hype in the series opener, smacking 75* off 63 balls which included three sixes and five fours.

The left-hander took the India cricket bowlers to the cleaners in the T20I series and replicated his previous performances on Thursday as well.

South Africa Cricket Hit India Cricket With Early Blows

The target wasn’t massive considering India cricket’s reputation to chase mammoth targets down with ease, but bear in mind that they were playing with their ace players such as KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav.

The former group is in Australia to prepare for the T20 World Cup which allows the unselected players to make a case for themselves with handy performances in the ongoing series with South Africa cricket.

With Dhawan and Shubman Gill opening the inning as they did in Zimbabwe recently, both were sent back quite early in the game.

South Africa Cricket Hit India Cricket With Early Blows

Wayne Parnell rattled Dhawan’s stumps at 4, and KG Rabada got the better of Gill at 3.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, playing in his maiden ODI 2022 game, was stumped on 19 off Tabraiz Shamsi. This meant that their top order was exposed early and it was time for the middle-order batters to come in.

Ishan Kishan, who is usually known for opening the innings, walked in after Gaikwad’s wicket to score a patient knock of 20 (37).

Lungi Ngidi was the star with the ball, registering figures of 3/52. Rabada went for 2/36, whereas Parnell, Shamsi, and Keshaf Maharaj picked a wicket each.

Mahraj bowled in the right channels to keep the Indian cricket batters in check. Shamsi bowled well until the late overs when Samson took him to the cleaners. He conceded 20 runs in the 40th over, just being able to defend 30 runs and earning his team a narrow win.

Samson Leads The India Cricket Team Unbeaten

Sanju Samson has been a talked-about figure in cricket circles for not being picked for the World Cup. This was his chance to show what he has got and the Rajasthan Royals captain did it to perfection.

With little help from Shreyas Iyer, he almost brought India cricket a win with his scintillating knock of 86 off 63. He remained unbeaten till the end, having hit three sixes and nine fours, and being the top scorer on either side.

The result of the game may have been a tad different had Samson played the penultimate 39th over. He did not get to face a single ball and that swung the momentum in the visitor’s favor.

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