India humbled South Africa by 61 runs in the first T20I match at Kingsmead, Durban. With this win, India has taken a 1-0 lead in the series. Earlier at Kingsmead, South Africa won the toss and decided to bowl. But Sanju Samson made Markram regret his decision, as he swashbuckled the Proteas bowling line-up from the first ball of the inning and hit them all around the park with power-packed classy strokeplay. Sanju gave India a blistering start; however, Abhishek was dismissed on 7 by Coetzee when the team’s score was 24/1.
From there, Surya and Samson stitched a 76-run partnership and took India to 90 runs in the 9th over before Surya was dismissed by Patrick Kruger. After that, Tilak joined forces with Sanju, and they took India to 167 in 14.3 overs before Jansen caught him on Maharaj’s bowl. In the over 15.4 Sanju Samson was caught on mid-wicket by Stubbs on the bowl of Nqabayomzi Peter. Since Sanju’s dismissal, the Indian team lost momentum and added 35 runs in the last 5 overs to finish with the flurry or wickets finished with 202/8 in 20 overs.
While coming to chase a huge total of 203 South Africa didn’t get the start needed to complete such a big run chase as they lost three wickets in the powerplay. At first, they lost Markram when the team’s total was 8, then went Tristan Stubbs when the score was 30 and the third batsman to get dismissed in powerplay was Ryan Rickelton on 44.
South Africa never recovered from these early setbacks as they struggled the entire inning to match the required run rate and in this quest lost wickets at regular intervals, wrapped up on 141 in 17.5 overs. However, Gerald Coetzee showed late resistance with the bat that proved insufficient to win this game for South Africa.
Match Scorecard: SA vs IND 1st T20I, Durban, 08 Nov 2024
India Batting
| Batter | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | |
| Sanju Samson | c Stubbs b Peter | 107 | 50 | 214 | 7 | 10 |
| Abhishek Sharma | c Markram b Coetzee | 7 | 8 | 87.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Suryakumar Yadav (c) | c Simelane b Kruger | 21 | 17 | 123.52 | 2 | 1 |
| Tilak Varma | c Jansen b Maharaj | 33 | 18 | 183.33 | 3 | 2 |
| Hardik Pandya | c Jansen b Coetzee | 2 | 6 | 33.33 | 0 | 0 |
| Rinku Singh | c Klaasen b Coetzee | 11 | 10 | 110 | 2 | 0 |
| Axar Patel | c Stubbs b Jansen | 7 | 7 | 100 | 1 | 0 |
| Arshdeep Singh | not out | 5 | 4 | 125 | 1 | 0 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | run out (Klaasen/Jansen) | 1 | 3 | 33.33 | 0 | 0 |
| Extras | (nb 3, w 5) | 8 | ||||
| Total | 20 Ov (RR: 10.10) | 202/8 |
South Africa Bowling
| Bowling | Overs | Runs | Wickets | ECON |
| Marco Jansen | 4 | 24 | 1 | 6 |
| Aiden Markram | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| Keshav Maharaj | 4 | 34 | 1 | 8.5 |
| Gerald Coetzee | 4 | 37 | 3 | 9.25 |
| Nqabayomzi Peter | 3 | 35 | 1 | 11.66 |
| Patrick Kruger | 2 | 35 | 1 | 17.5 |
| Andile Simelane | 2 | 27 | 0 | 13.5 |
South Africa Batting
| Batter | Runs | Balls | SR | 4s | 6s | |
| Aiden Markram (c) | c Samson b Arshdeep Singh | 8 | 4 | 200 | 2 | 0 |
| Ryan Rickelton | c Tilak Varma b Varun | 21 | 11 | 190.9 | 3 | 1 |
| Tristan Stubbs | c Yadav b Avesh Khan | 11 | 11 | 100 | 0 | 1 |
| Heinrich Klaasen | c Patel b Varun | 25 | 22 | 113.63 | 2 | 1 |
| David Miller | c Avesh Khan b Varun | 18 | 22 | 81.81 | 1 | 1 |
| Patrick Kruger | c Pandya b Ravi Bishnoi | 1 | 2 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Jansen | c Pandya b Ravi Bishnoi | 12 | 8 | 150 | 1 | 1 |
| Andile Simelane | lbw b Ravi Bishnoi | 6 | 4 | 150 | 0 | 1 |
| Gerald Coetzee | run out (Yadav) | 23 | 11 | 209.09 | 0 | 3 |
| Keshav Maharaj | b Avesh Khan | 5 | 9 | 55.55 | 0 | 0 |
| Nqabayomzi Peter | not out | 5 | 3 | 166.66 | 1 | 0 |
| Extras | (w 6) | 6 | ||||
| Total | 17.5 Ov (RR: 7.90) | 141 |
India Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | ECON |
| Arshdeep Singh | 3 | 25 | 1 | 8.33 |
| Avesh Khan | 2.5 | 28 | 2 | 9.88 |
| Hardik Pandya | 3 | 27 | 0 | 9 |
| Varun Chakravarthy | 4 | 25 | 3 | 6.25 |
| Ravi Bishnoi | 4 | 28 | 3 | 7 |
| Axar Patel | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Man of the Match: SA vs IND 1st T20I, Durban, 08 Nov 2024
Sanju Samson was declared the “Man of the Match” in the first T20I series in Durban for his match-winning century.
| Player | Team | Score |
| Sanju Samson | India | 107 (50) |
Most Runs: SA vs IND 1st T20I, Durban, 08 Nov 2024
The Centurion of the first T20I at Kingsmead, Sanju Samson, was the highest scorer of this match too.
| Player | Team | Score |
| Sanju Samson | India | 107 (50) |
Most Wickets: SA vs IND 1st T20I, Durban, 08 Nov 2024
India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was the highest wicket-taker in Durban; he bowled a match-winning spell of 3/25 in 4 overs.
| Player | Team | Figures |
| Varun Chakravarthy | India | 3/25 (4 overs) |
Most Sixes: SA vs IND 1st T20I, Durban, 08 Nov 2024
The 1st SA vs IND T20 match was all about the elegant six-hitting of Sanju Samson, as he displayed why he is the highly-rated cricketer in India’s domestic circle. In the first T20I in Durban, Sanju smoked 10 maximums during his 107-run inning.
| Player | Team | Sixes |
| Sanju Samson | India | 10 |
Playing XIs: SA vs IND 1st T20I, Durban, 08 Nov 2024
South Africa Playing XI
Aiden Markram (c), Ryan Rickelton, Tristun Stubbs, Heinrich Klassen, David Miller, Patrick Kruger, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter
India Playing XI
Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav (c), Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Varun Chakravarthy
