South Africa Beats India In First Match of ODI Series

Param Lakhani

Pune, 6th October 2022: South Africa defeated India, on 8th October 2022, at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow in the First ODI by nine runs. India won the toss and chose to bowl first. The match was cut down to 40 overs a side due to rains. South Africa posted 249 runs in their share of 40 overs losing four wickets. India

fell nine short of the target. The highest scorer of the match was Sanju Samson. He scored 86 runs in 63 balls. Lungi Ngidi was the highest wicket-taker with three scalps to his name. The man in the match was Klaassen.

India was reduced to a mere 118 runs with half the side back in the dugout. Sanju Samson and Shardul Thakur stitched an important partnership but could not hold on as Shardul fell prey to Ngidi in the 38th over. Nothing seemed to work out after that as the team succumbed to the pressure. From India’s perspective, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju

Samson stitched a vital partnership. It was followed by Shardul Thakur and Sanju’s fiery batting was not enough to take India past the line.

Team India had a great counter-attack but the top order failed to fire once again. This will be a big worry before heading into the T-20 world cup scheduled shortly after the series. The 2nd ODI will be played on 9th October 2022 which will be a must-win game for India if they want to stay alive in the series.