Published: Oct 03, 2015, 10:00 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 03, 2015, 11:16 PM (IST)
The first Twenty20 International (T20I) century scored in India, a target of 200 chased successfully and JP Duminy’s heroic finish. These were some of the events that took place in the first match of the ‘Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela’ series. Bharath Seervi presents the statistical highlights of the first T20I match played between India and South Africa at at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.
It was a batsmen’s show in the inaugural match of a 72-day tour of South Africa to India. The first of three T20I matches was played at Dharamsala, where the winner was decided only in the final over where almost 400 runs scored in nearly 40 overs.
After Faf du Plessis put India in, the hosts lost Shikhar Dhawan, who was run out as run-out. But a huge partnership followed: Rohit Sharma had a good day, as did Virat Kohli. Runs came at a quick rate. Meanwhile, Imran Tahir was hit for three sixes in an over. Rohit scored a century, Kohli 43 and the innings ended on 199 for 5 in 20 overs with a six by skipper MS Dhoni on the final delivery.
A target of 200 was never easy, but two ODI champions — albeit with lesser T20I numbers — took charge. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla shared a 77-run partnership before Amla fell in the eighth over. AB went on to score a half-century but skipper Faf failed, scoring just 4. No further wickets fell, Farhaan Behardien and JP Duminy scored at a good pace, the required run rate was always under control, and South Africa won the match by 7 wickets with 2 balls remaining. READ: JP Duminy steers South Africa to 7-wicket win in 1st T20I
There were some records set during the match. Let us see them along with few important statistics and numbers related to the match.
MS Dhoni: First player to captain in 50 T20 Internationals
It was Dhoni’s 50th T20I as captain. He became the first to reach the mark. The next on the list is William Porterfield (41). Dhoni has played 51 T20I matches; the only T20I match he played as non-captain was the first T20I India ever played — against South Africa at New Wanderers on December 1, 2006; the captain was Virender Sehwag. Dhoni has played 209 T20s in all, leading in 203. HIGHLIGHTS: India vs South Africa, 1st T20I at Dharamsala
Sreenath Aravind: Third-oldest T20I debutant for India
At 31 years 177 days, Aravind became the third oldest-debutant for India in T20Is. The first two are Rahul Dravid (38 years 262 days) and Sachin Tendulkar (33 years 221 days).
Virat Kohli: Fastest to 1,000 runs in T20Is
Kohli became the first Indian and the fastest of all the players to score 1,000 T20I runs. He got to the milestone in his 27th innings — way ahead than the previous record-holders Kevin Pietersen and Alex Hales (32 each).
Rohit Sharma: Second Indian to score a T20I century
Rohit became the second Indian to score a T20I century, the first being Suresh Raina, who also scored his T20I century against South Africa — at Gros Islet in ICC World T20 2010. He scored 101 in that match.
Rohit Sharma: First batsman to score a T20I century on Indian soil
Rohit’s 106 was also the first century by anyone in T20Is on Indian soil. In the 11 T20Is played in India prior to this the highest score was 91 by Brendon McCullum against India at Chennai in September 2012.
Rohit Sharma: Joint-most T20 hundreds among Indians
It was Rohit’s third T20 century. He had earlier scored 101* for Mumbai against Gujarat at Brabourne Stadium in April 2007 and 109* for Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in May 2012 in the Indian Premier League. Raina is the other Indian with 3 T20 centuries. Raina scored centuries in World T20, IPL and CL T20. Unmukt Chand, Murali Vijay and Sehwag are the only other Indians with 2 T20 hundreds.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s partnership of 138 runs: Highest for India in T20Is
Kohli and Rohit added 138 for the second wicket. This is the highest T20I stand by an Indian pair for any wicket. They eclipsed 136 by Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir for the first wicket against England in World T20 2007.
Incidentally, there have been 5 century partnerships by Indians in T20Is, of which 3 have been between Kohli and Rohit. They added 106 against West Indies and 100 against Bangladesh, both for the second wicket at Dhaka in the World T20 2014.
MS Dhoni: Hit a six to finish off the first innings in T20 Internationals for the third time
MS Dhoni hit a six off the final delivery of the first innings to get the score from 193 to 199 off Kyle Abbott, setting a target of 200. This was the third time he did it in T20Is in the first innings. Interestingly, the first occasion was when Raina scored his hundred, at St Lucia on May 2, 2010; the second was against Afghanistan at Premadasa in World T20 2012.
Rohit Sharma’s average of 57.40 against South Africa in T20Is: Fourth-highest against a single opposition (Min. 250 runs)
Rohit now averages 57.40 against South Africa in T20Is. In the 6 innings against South Africa, his scores read 50*, 29, 53, 25, 24 and 106. Only 3 others average more against an opposition with a minimum of 250 runs: Brendon McCullum against India (130.50 in 4 innings), Kevin Pietersen against Pakistan (69.40 in 8) and Aaron Finch against England (57.40 in 7).
JP Duminy: Seven sixes, one four
JP Duminy hit 7 sixes and just 1 four in his innings of unbeaten 68 off 34 balls to win the match. No batsman had hit more than 6 sixes with zero or one four in a T20I innings. Shane Watson (vs India, Bridgetown, 2010), David Warner (vs Pakistan, Dubai, 2012), Lendl Simmons (vs Zimbabwe, North Sound, 2013) and Tom Cooper (vs Ireland, Sylhet, 2014) hit 6 sixes each hitting only one four. READ: JP Duminy could be SA’s unexpected hero in tour of India 2015
JP Duminy: Joint-most number of sixes in a T20I against India
JP Duminy’s 7 sixes are the joint-best against India in a T20I. Others to hit 7 sixes against India in a T20I are Warner (Bridgetown, 2010), Chris Gayle (Bridgetown, 2010), Watson (Premadasa, 2012) and Eoin Morgan (Edgbaston, 2014). All previous instances were outside India.
South Africa: Second successful 200-run run in T20Is.
It was the second time South Africa successfully chased down a target of 200 or more runs in a T20I. The first occasion was in the opening match of World T20 2007 against West Indies where Gayle hit a century. They had chased down 206 on that occasion. India is the only other team to chase down 200 twice. New Zealand and West Indies have done it once each. West Indies chased 232 to win it against South Africa at New Wanderers early this year — the highest successful chase in all T20s.
Rohit Sharma: Third batsman to score century on losing cause in T20Is.
Rohit’s 106 could not win the match for India. This was the third time that a T20I century came in a losing cause, and South Africa has been involved in all of them. Gayle smashed 117 against South Africa in 2007, while du Plessis scored 119 against South Africa in 2015 — where West Indies chased down 232.
Four Indian bowlers conceded 40 or more runs in the same T20I
Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 40 runs; Aravind, 44; Mohit Sharma, 40; and Akshar Patel, 45. It was the first time that more than two Indian bowlers conceded 40 or more runs in the same T20I. On 5 occasions in the past, 2 Indian bowlers conceded 40 or more. Overall this was the fifth occasion in history that 4 bowlers went for 40 each. There has been no instance of 5.
In all, 6 bowlers conceded 40 runs in the match, with Marchant de Lange (47) and Chris Morris (46) being the culprits for South Africa. It was only the fourth time that 6 or more bowlers did this. The record remains 7 (3 for England, 4 for Australia at Southampton, 2013).
Bonus trivia: The run out Rohit Sharma requires to score big!
When Rohit scored 209 against Bangalore in 2013, Kohli was run out (while they were batting together); Kohli was run out again when he slammed 264 at Eden Gardens in 2014; here, the unfortunate partner was Dhawan: Rohit ended up scoring 106!
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)
