Former South Africa cricketer Mark Boucher lauded Indian leggie Ravi Bishnoi for keeping David Miller quiet in the middle overs. In the 11th over of the innings, Miller struggled to get away and managed to score just one run. Miller went into a shell and eventually lost his wicket to Varun Chakravarthy after scoring just 18 runs from 22 balls. South Africa could not keep up with the run chase and ended up getting bowled out for 141 in the 18th over and lost the series opener by 61 runs.
"I was watching a couple of his (Ravi Bishnoi) balls come out a little bit different and I think what he did really well tonight, especially in the dark, is he changed the seam up. Sometimes you look at the ball, especially as a wicket-keeper as well. You look at the ball and see if you can see it spinning different ways. But he muddled his seam up very nicely," Boucher told JioCinema.
"David Miller wasn't picking a thing at all. I mean, there's one over there where I think he missed four out of the six deliveries he faced. So yeah, he was bowled really well tonight, and it just goes to show two quality spinners. There was something there for the ballers, on that wicket. Something that South African bowlers could not exploit," the former wicketkeeper-batter added.
While Boucher lauded Bishnoi and Chakravarthy, he criticised South African spinners Keshav Maharaj and Nqabayomzi Peter's inability to read the pitch. He was not pleased with Heinrich Klaasen's inability to adapt.
Comfortable victory for visitors
Klaasen faced 22 deliveries as well and scored 25 runs before falling to Chakravarthy in the same over as Miller departed. Klaasen and Miller shared a 42-run partnership from 37 balls. The Proteas would have been bowled out for less than 100 had it not been for Gerald Coetzee's 11-ball 23 cameo which was ended by skipper Suryakumar Yadav's direct hit.
Earlier Sanju Samson scored his second T20I century. Cameos from Suryakumar and Tilak Varma helped India post 202/8 after Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bowl first at Kingsmead, Durban.
