India came out all guns blazing and completely outplayed South Africa in all facets of the game. India looked a determined lot and played much better than the Proteas. India recovered from early jitters to post a competitive 175/6 and they got there thanks to a magical innings from Hardik Pandya who scored an unbeaten 59 off 28 balls and guided the Indian innings with others playing around him.
In the second innings, it was an all-round bowling display by India with everyone chipping in and sharing the wickets around them helped India skittle South Africa out for the lowest score in their T20Is. All the 6 Indian bowlers got at least one wicket while for South Africa no one got going and paid the price in the end. A massive 101-run win for India.
Hardik Pandya’s blitz helps India post competitive 175/6
Put into bat first, Abhishek Sharma and vice-captain Shubman Gill came out to bat for India while Lungi Ngidi had ball in hand for South Africa. India got off to a shaky start as Gill after getting off the mark with a boundary to third man miscued a shot to mid-off where Marco Jansen took the catch as Gill went for 4 off 2 balls with a boundary to his name. Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat next.
South Africa bowled tight lines and lengths and India struggled to get going. Surya player the pick up shot and hit a boundary before whipping the ball over square leg for the maximum. But Surya’s innings did not last long as the miscue carried to Markram at mid-on as Surya departed for 12 off 11 balls with 1 four and 1 six to his name with Ngidi getting both the wickets. Tilak Varma came out to bat next to join Abhishek Sharma in the powerplay.
India were off to a shaky start and were in need of a partnership. Abhishek was the aggressor whenever he could while Varma got into his innings soon. The duo played the remaining overs of powerplay as India were 40/2 in 6 overs. But after the powerplay. Sipamla struck as he removed Abhishek for 17 off 12 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name. India were 48/3 now when Axar Patel joined Tilak in the middle.
India were in need of stabilising the innings and the duo of Tilak and Axar took the team forward as at the Drinks Break, India were 71/3 and in a steady position. The duo added 30 runs between them before Tilak fell for a laboured 26 off 32 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name. At 78/4 in 11.4 overs, India were in disarray when Hardik Pandya joined the crease with Axar Patel.
Hardik decided to counterattack the bowling while Axar played a responsible innings of a second fiddle. Hardik took Maharaj down initially as no bowler was spared by the all-rounder. Axar looked fluent as he went along as the duo added 26 runs to the score before Axar fell trying to guide the ball as he hit it straight to backward point where Donovan Ferreira took the catch with Axar falling for 23 off 21 balls with one six to his innings. Shivam Dube came out to bat next to support Pandya.
Hardik was the one hitting it cleanly while Dube joined the party from time to time. Dube added 33 runs with Pandya with Dube himself making 11 off 9 balls with 2 fours to his name as Ferreira cleaned him up and ended his innings, but Hardik was in his zone by now. Jitesh Sharma came out to bat next. Hardik took on the bowling head on and took apart the bowling in the death overs. Jitesh also when given the opportunity hit a maximum over square leg to keep the scoreboard moving.
But Hardik completed his fifty in just 25 balls. Hardik remained unbeaten on 59 off 28 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes to his name while Jitesh made 10* off 5 balls with one six to his name as they added an unbroken 38 runs off 17 balls after the previous stand added 33 off 19 balls. India finished with a competitive 175/6 in 20 overs with 13 extras given by the fielding side.
Lungi Ngidi was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with figures of 3/31 in 4 overs. Lutho Sipamla finished with 2/38 in 4 overs. Donovan Ferreira finished with 1/13 in 2 overs. Marco Jansen finished with 0/23 in 4 overs. Anrich Nortje gave away 41 runs in 4 overs. Keshav Maharaj gave away 25 runs in 2 overs. This meant the target for South Africa will be 176 runs off 20 overs.
All-Round bowling display skittles South Africa out for 74 and hands India a massive win
Chasing 176 for the win, Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram came out to open for South Africa while Arshdeep Singh had ball in hand for India. The innings never really got going and it was a freefall from the get go. Arshdeep made the perfect start as he removed Quinton de Kock in the very first over for a silver duck. Tristan Stubbs came out to bat next and got off the blocks by hitting a boundary away.
The duo of Markram and Stubbs put on 16 runs for the second wicket before Stubbs fell for 14 off 9 balls with 2 fours to his name as Arshdeep had two wickets to his name. Dewald Brevis came out to bat next. Brevis came and played his shots from the get go and added 24 runs inside the powerplay before Markram was cleaned up by Axar Patel for 14 off 14 balls with one four and one six to his name. David Miller came out to bat next.
The powerplay score was 45/3 in 6 overs. David Miller soon fell after the powerplay as he fell for 1 off 3 balls to that man again Hardik Pandya. Donovan Ferreira came out to bat next. They added 5 to the tally before Ferreira too fell for 5 off 7 balls with one four to his name to Varun Chakaravarthy to leave the visitors at 50/5. Marco Jansen came out to bat next.
Brevis and Jansen briefly built a partnership and threatened the Indians. Brevis was playing his shots while Jansen hit the big sixes as well. They added 18 runs more to their tally as Jansen fell for 12 off 12 balls with 2 sixes to his name to leave the South Africans at 68/6 in 9.5 overs when Drinks was taken. Keshav Maharaj came out to bat next.
Bumrah came back into the attack after the break and removed Brevis for 22 off 14 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to give the final nail in the coffin. Anrich Nortje came out to bat next. Bumrah got another wicket to his name as he dismissed Maharaj for a silver duck to leave the visitors at 70/8. Lutho Sipamla came out to bat next.
Soon, Axar came back and knocked over Nortje for 1 off 3 balls to leave South Africa at 72/9. Lungi Ngidi came out to bat next. Shivam Dube was given the ball next and then he removed Sipamla for 2 off 5 balls as South Africa were bowled out for 74 in 12.3 overs with Ngidi remaining unbeaten on 2 off 4 balls. Just one extra given by India. This is the lowest total in T20IS by South Africa.
All the Indian bowlers bowled well and the wickets were shared and all of them got a wicket. Arshdeep Singh set the tone with his 2/14 in 2 overs. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 2/17 in 3 overs. Varun Chakaravarthy finished with 2/19 in 3 overs. Axar Patel finished with 2/7 in 2 overs. Hardik Pandya finished with 1/16 in 2 overs. Shivam Dube came onto bowl and bowled 3 balls to finish with 1/1. So, India won by a whopping 101 runs to go 1-0 up in 5-match series. Hardik Pandya was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
India have taken a 1-0 lead with a resounding win in Cuttack by 101 runs. They will be confident and will look to drive home the advantage from hereon. The next T20I takes place on Thursday i.e. 11th December, 2025 in New Chandigarh in Mullanpur from 7 PM IST onwards. So, it is a quick turnaround from Cuttack. Can South Africa bounce back from this defeat? Only time will tell.
An interesting series will be on the cards from hereon.
Also Read: IND vs SA: Hardik Pandya’s Blitz Helps India Get To 175/6