India vs South Africa, 1st T20I: India rout South Africa on a spiteful track

And two young Indian pacers weren't complaining. Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar, coming into the playing XI in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, proved they can be just as good, if not better than their senior pros with a brilliant exhibition of swing bowling to set up India's eight-wicket win over the Proteas on Wednesday night. SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENEDThe 'English-like' conditions saw South Africa losing half the side even before the team total had reached double figures. The visitors couldn't recover from that abysmal start and ended up with 106 for eight in 20 overs. The Indian batsmen didn't have it easy in their chase either as long as Kagiso Rabada was in operation. He dismissed skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck as he troubled the batters with his pace and movement. When Anrich Nortje accounted for Virat Kohli, some jitters were felt. However, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav took their time to wear out the South African bowlers and chipped away at the paltry target with an unbroken partnership of 93 to take India home.

The two batsmen helped themselves to half-centuries as India coasted home in 16.4 overs. Rahul made an unbeaten 51 (56 balls, 2x4, 4x6) while red-hot Yadav remained not out on 50 (33 balls, 5x4, 3x6). Earlier, Chahar who is among India's standbys for the World T20, castled South African skipper Temba Bavuma with a ball that came in sharply to start the slide in the last ball of the first over. Arshdeep Singh, who has made a reputation for his brilliant bowling in the end overs, showed that he can be just as good with the new ball in conducive conditions, claiming three wickets in his first over. First, he had Quinton de Kock playing onto his stumps.

Off the fifth ball, he induced an