India thrashed South Africa by a staggering 101 runs on Tuesday in Cuttack thanks to a brilliant, undefeated 28-ball 59 from Hardik Pandya in the first Twenty20 International.
After recovering from a quadricep injury, Pandya returned to international cricket and helped India reach 175 for six with six fours and four sixes.
Tilak Varma (26) and Axar Patel (23) also made valuable contributions after India was asked to bat first. Dewald Brevis (22) was the best scorer as SA crumbled for 74 in 12.3 overs in response. In T20I cricket, it was their lowest-ever score.
Arshdeep Singh (2/14), Varun Chakaravarthy (2/19), Jasprit Bumrah (2/17), Axar Patel (2/7), Shivam Dube (1/1), and Pandya (1/16) were among the wicket takers for India.
Lungi Ngidi (3/31) and LuthoSipamla (2/38) previously shared five wickets for South Africa.
After recovering from the injury that kept him out of the Asia Cup for 74 days, Pandya entered the game at number six and instantly changed its pace after India had slipped in both the power play and middle overs, losing six wickets.
Pandya, who had demonstrated his fitness at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Baroda with a 42-ball 77 not out, counterattacked with clean, fearless hitting to finish on 59 not out off 28 balls, laced with six fours and four sixes for his sixth T20I fifty.
Just after Tilak Varma (26) was dismissed, Pandya started off against Keshav Maharaj with two towering sixes. He then ripped into Anrich Nortje with a 17-run over, even stepping out to a 149kph thunderbolt to punch it for four, encapsulating the raw pace versus brute power duel that lifted the mood in the crowded Barabati Stadium.
Marco Jansen attempted to rush him with short balls, but Pandya retaliated by pulling one and racing to his fifty.
In the 19th over, he hit a six and four off Lutho Sipamla (2/38). In the final over, he hit a ramped six over third man off Nortje to achieve his half-century in 25 balls. He celebrated with a subdued bat raise.
India added 53 runs in the final five overs thanks to Pandya’s late fireworks, while Nortje, who was recovering from injury, gave up 41 in four, including 12 in the penultimate over.
India struggled early after being sent in on a new red-soil surface that offered two-paced bounce. In just seven overs, Abhishek Sharma (17), Shubman Gill (4), and Suryakumar Yadav (12) were all dismissed as Lungi Ngidi (3/31) masterfully took advantage of the conditions with deft variations.
After Gill chipped to Jansen at mid-off, he pulled him early. Later, he had captain Suryakumar hold out to Aiden Markram. Abhishek faced just nine balls in the opening six overs, as Gill and Suryakumar took the majority of the strike during the powerplay.
As soon as the field restrictions were lifted, the left-hander attempted to push the tempo, but was dismissed by Sipamla after the 2.06-meter Jansen made a spectacular sliding catch while running from long leg to fine leg. Just when he was starting to establish a rhythm with consecutive boundaries, his brief stay of 17 off 12 came to an end.
Hardik returned to lead the all-round options, and India made significant selection decisions, favoring Jitesh Sharma over Sanju Samson for the wicketkeeper position. Shivam Dube was another like-for-like all-rounder chosen by the Gambhir-led team.
