Rishabh Pant highlights that India’s execution was off in the first T20I against South Africa

Team India just cannot seem to secure a win against South Africa this year. Having played six matches across all formats against the Proteas, during which three captains have led the side, the Men in Blue are yet to record a win.

The latest failure arrived in the first T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi where they went down against South Africa by seven wickets. The defeat was especially painful given that India had posted a mammoth total of 211 runs in 20 overs to give their bowlers plenty to work with. The Proteas got off to a tremendous start in the run chase and smashed deliveries left and right during the powerplay.

However, India were quick to pull things back in the powerplay. Unfazed by the adversity, South Africa exhibited and unbelievable display of power hitting to force the issue and, in the end, secured the match in the final over to take a commanding 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Indian captain Rishabh Pant heaped praise on the South African batters for acing the run chase and he believes that the wicket got better with time. During the presentation ceremony after the conclusion of the match, Pant said, “We had a good total on the board. We were a little off with our execution but sometimes, you have to give credit to the opposition. Miller and van der Dussen played well.”

“We thought the slower ones were working in the first innings but the wicket got better as the game went on.”

Rassie van der Dussen joined hands with David Miller to forge an outstanding partnership in the middle-overs. The duo stitched a match-winning 131 runs off just 63 deliveries to guide the Rainbow Nation to victory. While Dussen had his fair share of struggles early on, he was virtually unstoppable once he changed his bat. He ended up scoring 75 not out off 46 balls.

Meanwhile, David Miller who has been in excellent form lately as was evident in the IPL carried on his hot streak with yet another sensational performance. He remained not out on 64 off 31 deliveries and also smashed a 22-ball 50.