The Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his men continued their winning streak in South Africa after outplaying the hosts by 28 runs in the first T20I of the three-match series in Johannesburg. After being asked to bat, India posted a huge total of 203/5 in 20 overs and then restricted South Africa to 175/9 to continue their dominance. 

During the post-match presentation, Virat hailed his team’s all-around efforts in the game. He said, “Very impressive from the boys. It was a good wicket to bat on. Although Rohit (Sharma) did not get many, the start – 21 off 9 gave us the start. Shikhar (Dhawan) was outstanding. It was a total team batting performance. With the ball, Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) showed his experience. We could always bank on Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah) and (Jaydev) Unadkat did well as well.”

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He further added, “This was one of our most balanced performances. We never let the run rate drop less than 10.5. I was thinking maybe 220 at the 16 over the mark. The basic message to the team was we are here till 25th. We can’t go away before that and have to make the best of every time here.”

During the 2nd innings of the match, Kohli went off the field and the team was led by Rohit Sharma and safe hands of MS Dhoni. Asked about the niggle, Kohli said, “The injury was early on in the innings when I went for the single. It was my glute and thankfully not my hammy. You know how I am, I had to bend a bit more quickly. Then I felt a little bit more stiffness in my glute and that is why I went off. Not to be stupid and tear a muscle, I decided to go off and get it checked.”

Bhuvneshwar played a crucial role in India’s victory as he picked his maiden 5-wicket haul in T20Is. Kumar who was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant display explained the plans that the Indian team had to counter the South Africa batting. He said, “I just wanted to bowl in the right areas. Seeing how they were bowling, we chalked out our plan. We wanted to take pace off the ball. When you do well in tough situations, you enjoy it. I have been bowling that knuckleball with the seam up since the last one year. Worked on it in the IPL.”

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South Africa skipper JP Duminy’s disappointment was pretty evident after the loss as he suggested that the batsmen didn’t apply themselves in a proper manner while chasing the total that could have been achieved. He said, “Very disappointed. In the first six overs with the ball, we were always looking for wickets. We had a plan to bowl short at India. With the bat, in the beginning, we never got partnerships.”

Duminy concluding by stating that they need to chalk out different plans in the upcoming games. He said, “Back to the drawing board. If you don’t get the lines right, you are going to go for plenty. We just need to keep working hard and improving. 204 was definitely chaseable but we did not play well. Of course, you cannot fault the new guys like Dala, Hendricks in this format. We, seniors, need to take more responsibility.”