India registered a comfortable 8-wicket victory over South Africa in the 1st ODI on 17th December 2023 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The young colts of India led by KL Rahul displayed immense maturity against the Proteas and took a much-deserved lead in the 3-match ODI series.
Despite fielding a second-string team, India called the shots and bossed through the match at Johannesburg. Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan wreaked havoc with the ball and ensured that India have South Africa by the scruff of their neck by the end of the 1st innings.
The dominant victory has instilled in a lot of confidence to the Indian cricket team and they would be looking to build on this when they lock horns with the Proteas in the remainder of the series.
In this article, we take a look at the 3 talking points of the 1st SA vs IND ODI between the two sides at Johannesburg:
1. Memorable bowling performance from the Indians
Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan joined forces and simply decimated the batting line-up of South Africa. While Singh bagged 5 wickets, Avesh Khan took 4 wickets and simply blew away the opposition batters.
Kuldeep Yadav took the other wicket as South Africa were skittled out for a paltry score of 116 runs. This was never sufficient on the board as the Indian batters chased down the total without breaking a sweat.
2. South Africa lost 4 wickets for 6 runs
South Africa lost the plot in the middle when they lost 4 wickets for just 6 runs around the 10th over. Wickets kept falling like a pack of cards and things went haywire for Aiden Markram and co. in the 1st SA vs IND ODI at Johannesburg.
Heinrich Klaasen was dismissed bowled by Arshdeep Singh in the last delivery of the 9th over and he was soon followed by Aiden Markram and Wiaan Mulder in the next two deliveries at the start of the next over.
Eventually, swashbuckling left-handed batter David Miller was dismissed by Avesh Khan at the end of the 12th over and the banana-slipping act of South Africa reached to a new low.
3. Sai Sudarshan played a fantastic knock on his debut
Playing in his debut game, Said Sudarshan played a top-notch knock at the top. He scored an unbeaten knock of 55* runs at the top in just 55 deliveries. His knock was laced with 9 fours and he had a strike-rate of 127.91.
Even though India lost Ruturaj Gaikwad at the top, Sai Sudarshan and Shreyas Iyer stitched out a well-oiled partnership of 88 runs for the 3rd wicket in the 2nd innings of this SA vs IND game.
Also read: IPL 2024 Auction: 3 Reasons Why Harshal Patel Can Come To KKR
