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Editor's Pick (t20): India - South Africa

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Whoever said ‘don’t make a habit out of it’ was not referring to winning. I do love writing ‘India won’ blogs and it is a pleasure to make a habit out of it as well. The Indian cricket team is most definitely making sure that the habit sticks. We are more than just on a roll in South Africa. We have found what clicks for us and we are making use of it. The best part is that almost all the players are performing. So we are actually open to experimenting and bringing in fresh faces. This way, not only do all the boys get the taste of playing, team South Africa is unable to get used to any one player long enough to figure out the style and a way to defeat it.
Way to go Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli.
Talking about team selection. How is your selection going? Are you also listening to our audio podcast and getting that added advantage?

Let's get back to the matches. We lost the test matches. But we have won the ODI series in a landslide way. And are one up in the T20 series. We are replaying our performance at Sri Lanka where we defeated the Lions at home. And yes this kind of data is most definitely worth repeating. A fantastic conversation starter with any cricket fan if there ever was one.

Some data on the first T20. Bhuvi is the first Indian bowler to take five-wickets in each of the three formats (four in Tests and one each in ODIs & T20Is). He is also the second Indian bowler to take five-fer in T20Is after Yuzuvendra Chahal (6/25).
With 77 victims in 87 matches, Dhoni also leads the list for most dismissals in the T20 international. After he took a catch to dismiss Reeza Hendricks off Bhuvneshwar, Dhoni created a new wicketkeeping record of having taken 134 catches in 275 T20s.
We are not just winning but breaking records and adding our names to the pages of history. Yay.

What happened? India hit 203 runs in 20 overs. Shikhar Dhawan’s 72 along with good support from the rest of the batsmen took the score up. South Africa crumbled. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 5 wicket haul caught the home team red handed. Literally. South Africa opted to bowl thinking they’d restrict the team to a low score. Oh well.
The second T20 - Virat Kohli scared everyone with injury fears. But it is going take more than an injured glute to keep the captain away from taking India to another series win in South Africa. He left the field in the middle of the first T20 as a precaution. He will be part of the team tomorrow. 
South Africa probable Squad Playing XI: JJ Smuts, Reeza Hendricks, Jean-Paul Duminy (c), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dane Paterson, Junior Dala, Tabraiz Shamsi

India probable Squad Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

Venue - SuperSport Park, Centurion
Venue Scoring Pattern
Avg 1st inn score: 170
Avg 2nd inn score: 129
Highest Total: 241/6 (20 Ov) by RSA vs Eng
Lowest Total: 100/10 (12.2 Ov) by RSA vs Pak
Highest Chased: 129/4 (15 Ov) by Aus vs RSA
Lowest Defended: 126/5 (10 Ov) by RSA vs SL

New SA players Junior Dala and C Jonker have an opportunity to showcase their talent and get a good place in the team. AB De Villiers and Klaasen are players to look out for. Morne Morkel, T Shamzi and Aaron Phangiso ( who was on the bench for the first T20) must play a role for their team.

Key Players

Virat Kohli
Shikhar Dhawan
MS Dhoni
Chahal
Yadav
B Kumar

H Klaasen
T Shamzi
Andile P
Reeza Hendricks
JP Duminy

What do you think?
Indu


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