Follow LIVE score and updates of India vs South Africa 1st T20I from Delhi on our live blog here.
A new-look Indian top-order will like to show more intent even as Rishabh Pant gets ready to add a new leaf to his already happening career, this time as national team captain in the five-match T20 International series against South Africa, starting in New Delhi on Thursday (June 9). KL Rahul, who was supposed to lead the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, suffered a groin injury which has now ruled him out of the entire series.
India vs South Africa Live: OUT! QDK
De Kock went for the big one but found Ishan in the deep, who took a brilliant catch! The ball was curling when Quinton de Kock hit that ball towards Ishan Kishan but the catch was taken perfectly and SA lose their 3rd wicket. SA: 81/3, need 131 runs in 68 balls
GONE!
Temba Bavuma 10 (8) GONE! India get the first breakthrough they were looking for. Bhuvneshwar Kumar rolls his finger over the ball and out-foxes the SA skipper with a slower one. Rishabh Pant makes no mistake behind the wicket.
SA- 22/1 (2.1 Overs), de Kock 6 (6)
SA off to a FLYING START
South Africa is off to a flying start in their chase of 212 runs against India as skipper Temba Bavuma and Quinton De Kock look to the great touch. There is no breathing space for the South African batters as they need over 10 runs per over to win.
Both team captains at the toss
Rishabh Pant: I think it is a good surface and don’t mind batting first. But if I had won the toss I would have bowled first. It is one of the proudest mom moments in my cricketing career so far. Because a Delhi boy getting that (captaincy) honor at Delhi is a huge thing for me. Thanks to everyone for giving me this opportunity. We know our XI but at the same time, we are giving different roles to players and see how they cope with that going forward.
Temba Bavuma: We are going to have a bowl first. We played a practice game here a couple of days ago so that the wicket got better to bat on. It was a bit slow and sloppy at the beginning, hopefully, we can exploit that and restrict them to a decent score and chase it down. Aiden was not available for selection as he tested positive for Covid, Stubbs comes and it is a debut for him. We have two all-rounders; Dwaine and Parnell also come into the fold. It is an important series as we haven’t been together as a group since the World Cup, it is a preparation for the World Cup coming up in Australia. For us, it is about building momentum and building confidence going ahead.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the India vs South Africa first T20I taking place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Youngster Rishabh Pant will lead the Men in Blue after BCCI’s announcement of KL Rahul being ruled out of the series due to injury.
Stay tuned for the live updates.