As India beats South Africa, Kohli breaks another record

After disciplined Indian bowling restricted the touring side to a below-par 149-5, Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan (40) helped the hosts chase down the target

There was excitement in the eyes of the players and the fans as India kickstarted their T20I campaign at home against South Africa and everything turned out to be in the favor of the hosts. Though the first T20I was washed out in Dharamshala, the Indian team was keen for the second one and hit the floors as a complete package by showing off their best game against South Africa. After disciplined Indian bowling restricted the touring side to a below-par 149-5, Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan (40) helped the hosts chase down the target with an over to spare.

Here are the talking points:

Virat Kohli breaks Rohit Sharma’s record

With this match, we have got what was missing for a long time and that is nothing but Virat Kohli’s game. The Indian skipper has now become the leading run-scorer in T20I by surpassing Rohit Sharma. Kohli (72*) now has 2441 runs in T20I whereas Rohit Sharma is down to 2434 runs. The skipper hit his 22^nd T20I fifty and with this win, Virat Kohli now has 50 plus average across all formats.

Dhawan stakes his calm

We all know that Shikhar Dhawan’s performance in T20I has been iffy from quite a long time now. And with his dropping strike rate, his position in the team as an opener was a cause of concern. With Dhawan’s impressive 40 off 31 balls and a strike rate of 129 has made everyone believe in his comeback. Not just this, his 61-run partnership with Kohli has contributed big time in winning the match.

India’s new bowlers promise performance

Deepak Chahar drew first blood when he dismissed Reeza Hendricks for six after Kohli won the toss and elected to field. Bavuma, making his Twenty20 debut along with Anrich Nortje and Bjorn Fortuin, fell just short of his fifty, foxed by Chahar's slower delivery. According to the skipper, the new bowlers understood the situation of pitch quickly and acted the way it was needed. Especially, the death overs were beautifully carried out by the bowlers and stopped South Africa from crossing the 150-mark.

New stepping stone for Quinton de Kock

This was Quinton de Kock’s first T20I as a captain and the very inexperienced team of South Africa can add to his difficulties. But looking at the overall performance of the team, everything can be called as pretty decent. The captain’s hunger to come out and score runs were purely seen on the ground as he scored 52 off 37 balls with an impressive strike rate of 140. He looked positive for the next game and vowed to come back stronger.

Since the last game of the series is just around the weekend now, both the teams will be seeking to display the strongest game in order to stay ahead in the race of T20I matches with a focus on T20I World Cup.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)