DHARAMSHALA: It is a rarity in T20 cricket that bowlers swing the ball more often than batters swing their bats. It almost goes against the marketing ethos of the format to see the ball dominate the bat, even as bowlers are increasingly reduced to mere punching bags. Under lights, in frosty weather in the hills on Sunday evening, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana found perfect conditions to destroy South Africa’s top order after India captain Suryakumar Yadav opted to bowl as the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the T20I series.
The historically high-scoring venue witnessed a one-sided contest in most of the first innings as South Africa could only muster 117 thanks largely to that performance Aiden Markram61 off 46 in a masterful batting performance.The score was too low to put the Indian batters under pressure, especially because South Africa’s new-ball bowlers were splashing it around. Abhishek Sharma’s trademark tough 18-ball 35 at the top of the chase made things easier for Shubman Gill, who struggled to 28 off 28 balls after several narrow chances. India easily surpassed the target with seven wickets remaining in 15.5 overs as Tilak Varma returned to the dressing room unbeaten with 26 off 34 alongside Shivam Dube after an unconvincing Suryakumar was dismissed for 12 off 11 balls.India’s chase looked comfortable, especially as Arshdeep and Rana literally hooped the South African batters to reduce the visitors to 25/3 at the end of the powerplay.Coming into the game after a terrible performance in the previous game in Chandigarh, Arshdeep would not have complained about the ball swaying forward. Arshdeep and Rana dismissed openers Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock lbw in the first two overs before Rana bowled out Dewald Brevis in the fourth over. Only Markram stood firmly in front of the moving ball with his first-class technique.The conditions were so strongly in favor of the seam that every sailor, including Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube picked up a wicket in their first over. With the exception of Brevis’ wild cover drive after Rana’s inswinger, all of the top batters fell to defensive hits.
India’s Arshdeep Singh (center) celebrates the wicket of South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks with his teammates (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
The opening pitch with the new ball not only made up for Jasprit Bumrah’s sudden withdrawal but also provided a respite to the Indian batsmen who were found to have too often neglected the new ball. It also set the stage for the ever-threatening Varun Chakravarthy, who stormed through his four overs, posting figures of 2/11, marginally better than chief wrecker Arshdeep’s 2/13. It didn’t matter that India were ordinary in the field, dropping three regulation catches.The wide blade of Markram’s vertical bat made for a riveting sight during top-notch swing bowling. Markram was the only batsman to find the middle regularly. He took advantage of Rana’s inexperience in the final over of the powerplay when the pacer inexplicably tried variations instead of sticking with seam and momentum. Markram later punished Rana again, scoring 19 runs in the 18th over. Rana finished with figures of 2/34.In contrast to test cricketThe team batting first does not have the luxury of dropping the new ball and waiting for the conditions to ease. While Markram relied on his straight bat to hit six fours and two sixes, Donovan Ferreira indulged in a few powerful shots before losing his stumps in a wild hit against Varun Chakravarthy. Ferreira’s 20 off 15 helped Markram score 35 runs in 20 balls and briefly threatened to post a challenging total.
