Killer Miller to the fore as South Africa beat India

David Miller celebrates his 50 against India yesterday. Pic/AFP

Riding on unbeaten half-centuries by David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen, South Africa beat India by seven wickets in the first T20I here on Thursday.

Proteas chased the 212-run target with five balls to spare. Miller and Dussen remained unbeaten on 64 and 75 respectively. Miller's 31-ball knock was laced with four fours and five sixes, while Dussen smashed seven fours and five maximums during his 46-ball stay at the wicket.

Kishan shines

Earlier, Ishan Kishan struck a scintillating 76 off 48 balls before new skipper Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya's pyrotechnics propelled India to an imposing 211-4.

While Kishan dazzled at the top, Pant (29 off 16) and Pandya (31 not out 12) went ballistic in the slog overs, adding 46 runs to take India past 200.

India were off to a bright start after being asked to bat. The hosts plundered 13 runs off the first over with Kishan hitting back-to-back fours as South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma opted to open with spinner Keshav Maharaj.

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Rectifying his mistake, Bavuma bought pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada into the attack, who restricted the scoring giving away two runs in the following over.

Kishan seemed to be struggling with Anrich Nortje's pace, but alongside Rituraj Gaikwad (23) kept on stealing boundaries and sixes with ease at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Markram tests positive

South Africa batter Aiden Makram was on Thursday ruled out of the opening T20I after testing positive for COVID-19.

Markram, who was a part of the recently-concluded Indian Premier League, was unavailable for selection for the series-opener.

He had cleared the first round of testing along with the rest of the South African squad last week after arriving here on June 2.

Brief scores
India 211-4 in 20 overs (I Kishan 76, S Iyer 36, H Pandya 31') lost to SA 212-3 in 19.1 overs (D Miller 64', R van der Dussen 75') by seven wickets

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