Faf du Plessis made a mistake by misjudging the pitch of the Dharamsala Cricket Stadium in Himachal Pradesh 1317 meters above of the sea level.
Rohit Sharma made a mockery of Faf du Plessis’ four pacers strategy as he registered his median T20 hundred. He also became the second Indian batsman to score hundred against South Africa. The first Indian to score hundred is Suresh Raina. However, Rohit’s innings has gone invain.
India lost their first wicket when unwilling Shikhar Dhawan failed to reach his mark and eventually got run out. After his departure, Rohit and Virat Kohli built a 138 run partnership, which is the highest in the history India v South Africa T20 bilateral history. Rohit hit 12 boundaries and 5 sixes to complete his hundred, the fastest by ban India.
Virat Kohli looked solid but missed his 10th half century when he tried to play Kyle Abbott a lofted shot. Kayle Abbott also took the wicket of Rohit Sharma, but that did not restrict India from setting a target 200 for South Africa. MS Dhoni did what he loves to do hit a six in the last ball of the innings.
South Africa, however, looked sound while chasing India’s target. Openers AB de Villiers (51) and Hasim Amla (36) put 60 on board in five overs that laid out the plot for South Africa’s 7 wicket victory in the first match of the Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series.
Here are some interesting tweets about the match. These tweets showed how did fans’ mood swing according to the match situations.
On AB de Villers’ destructive batting
Dhoni should continue keeping up to the stumps for Arvind, maybe he will beat AB in flight #IndvsSA
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) October 2, 2015
its going a contest in dharmashala ! #proteafireVs#Bleedblue #IndvsSA
— Abhradeep roY (@Abhradeeproy) October 2, 2015
JPD vera level innings. 1500 runs at avg 36, SR: 130. Best SA international T20 batsman. Feeling sad for Rohit who played a beauty! #IndvsSA
— Srini Mama (@SriniMama16) October 2, 2015
Brilliant chase from #SA. Ashwin aside, the bowling was quite friendly. Massive stroke of luck for JP too. #IndvsSA
— Dileep Premachandran (@SpiceBoxofEarth) October 2, 2015
Brilliant Chase by South Africa Set up by AB De Villiers!! Anchored by Middle Order!! Brilliantly finished by JP Duminy!! #IndvsSA
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) October 2, 2015
#axarpatel to be the dog of the match #IndvsSA should not be played in next match… We want @harbhajan_singh back…He is a champion bowler
— Rohit Sardana (@rsardana) October 2, 2015
Bowling WOES & Batting WOWS continue for team India as usual. #rohitsharma to #axarpatel #IndvsSA
— Prashanth (@PrashYerramilli) October 2, 2015
Patel Quota namazoor: Gujarat Govt. cc #HardikPatel and #AxarPatel #IndvsSA
— Ishaan Gulati (@theishaangulati) October 2, 2015
When Indian Bowlers Bowl Spectator Becomes Fielders & Fielders Become Spectators. #IndvsSA
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) October 2, 2015
As far as pitches are concerned, Indians loves Sonam Kapoor and South Africans love Anil Kapoor. #IndvsSA
— Sagarcasm (@sagarcasm) October 2, 2015
Its no longer #IndvsSA but 132 Crore Indians v/s AB De Villers
— Gustakh Nigaah (@SarcastiCharm) October 2, 2015
The problem with de Villiers’ batting is he makes you forget U were supposed to cheer for the Indian cricket team. #ABsoluteGenius #IndvsSA
— Suyash Srivastava (@Syu4u) October 2, 2015
Common mortals play the full match @ABdeVilliers17 plays the highlights! #IndvsSA
— Archit Sood (@leavingliph) October 2, 2015
When R. Ashwin turn the India’s favour
If India manage to won this contest from here @ashwinravi99 will be the major factor… #IndvsSA
— Pradeep Kumar Sharma (@itspks1997) October 2, 2015
Farhan Bihardeen has an entire state of Bihar supporting him.#IndvsSA
— ابن عثمان (@CounterTweet_) October 2, 2015
On India’s innings and Rohit Sharma’s hundred
Surprised with the line & length SA bowlers bowled till now.Too much short&predicatble.Not many yorkers either. #IndvsSA
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) October 2, 2015
Suresh Raina pulls it for a six. In an unrelated news, Srini Mama met Sharad Pawar before the start of the series #IndvsSA
— Shashi Agarwal (@shashiagarwal82) October 2, 2015
Trust me, it’s not as easy as Rohit Sharma makes it out to be. #IndvsSA
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 2, 2015
Move over, Jordan. This has been an Air Rohit century. Going the distance at altitude. #IndvsSA
— Dileep Premachandran (@SpiceBoxofEarth) October 2, 2015
MS Dhoni is in to bat at Dharamshala and my memory goes back to IPL where he took on Irfan pathan to win for CSK.. #IndvsSA
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) October 2, 2015
After AB de Villers’ departure JP Dumminy (68) and Farhaan Behardien (32) put hard fourght battle for South Africa. Their 105 run partnership helped South Africa to surpass the 200 run target put by India. R. Ashwin turned the match in India’s favour when he spin the omnimous looking AB de Villers out. India won the match by run. But, on a small boundary Duminy batted celeverly and lofted the ball which landed in stands. Duminy hit 7 sixes while Behardien is only one and marched South Africa to victory. This victory helped South Africa to take a lead over host India.