South Africa vs India 2018: 1st T20I, 5 things we learnt from the match

Helped by an aggressive half-century from Shikhar Dhawan and a five-wicket haul from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India thrashed South Africa by 28 runs at the Wanderers in the first T20I of the three match series. Opting to bowl first, South Africa were short with their lengths and watched helplessly as India raced to their highest ever T20I power-play score of 78. Dhawan carried on although Tabraiz Shamsi gave the Proteas a bit of relief by dismissing Virat Kohli cheaply.

Though the visitors did not finish with a flourish, 204 was always going to be a stiff target for a depleted South African unit. Reeza Hendricks began well for the hosts and slammed a superb 70 but found little company except for Farhaan Behardien who made 39. Bhuvneshwar picked up three in an over at the end to seal the match for India.

Here are the 5 things we learnt from the match.

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#5 Rohit Sharma starts with a bang but falls quickly

Rohit hit 18 runs in the first over

Rohit Sharma is known for his peculiar style of batting, which involves watching the ball carefully in the first few overs, then increasing the tempo ever so slowly, before going into hit-everything-for-a-six mode. On Sunday at the Wanderers, the Indian opener switched his approach completely.

A wayward Dane Paterson was bowling way too short and Rohit latched onto an upper cut for six off the second ball of the match and then hit another pull for six off the fifth, before ending with a four to take 18 in the over. He hit one more four in the next over before falling to Junior Dala, the debutant, for a 9-ball 21.

#4 Proteas grab Kohli early

Tabraiz Shamsi trapped Kohli in front to give South Africa something to cheer about

Dismissing Virat Kohli for anything less than a hundred was turning out to be an arduous task for the hosts. He had smashed over 500 runs in the One Day Internationals and was an even better T20 player with an intimidating batting average in the past few years. With a flat Wanderers on offer and second-string bowlers in the rival camp, another Kohli-special loomed high.

Behardien let Kohli off the hook and put down a sitter when he mistimed Shamsi to long-on. But Shamsi found a way past the Indian skipper a second time, this time trapping him front with a sharp turn. Kohli was dismissed for 26 and the Proteas could breathe a bit easier.

#3 If Rohit doesn't get you, Dhawan most likely will

Dhawan carried on from where he left off in the ODIs

Dhawan had created quite a stir in the ODIs and continued in the same vein of form here at the Wanderers as well, as he dug into some listless bowling. Aided by a flat pitch, the high altitude at the ground and the short boundaries, he raced to a half-century in no time. Dhawan's T20I career strike rate stands at 118.30, but today he batted at more than 180- a sign of his immense confidence.

Dhawan hit no boundaries until the fourth over, when he got going with a spectacular pick up shot off Dala. A couple of edges off Chris Morris went to the fence and that was all the luck that the Delhiite needed, as he blazed away into the seventies before Andile Phehlukwayo deceived him with a slower ball.

#2 Reeza Hendricks resists with a dazzling half-century

The South African opener hit his maiden half-century in T20Is

Hendricks had topped the run charts in the 2017/18 Ram Slam T20s and carried forward his form in today's game as well to stake claims to a longer run in the South African limited-overs side. The opening batsman started off with a crisp cover drive off Bhuvneshwar with a ball that zoomed in - a shot that would have instilled quite a bit of confidence in him.

Even as wickets tumbled around him, Hendricks stood unflinched and took on Yuzvendra Chahal. He was quick to dismantle the leggie with cut shots and pinpoint accurate sweep shots and compiled his maiden T20I half-century in the company of Behardien. He couldn't get Proteas over the line but showed immense promise in his 50-ball 70.

#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar sniffs out five

Kohli would have been mighty pleased with Bhuvneshwar's performance

The Bull Ring is always known to be an anti-bowler's ground. The lightning quick outfield and the high altitude helps the scoring rates and six hitting in particular, but South Africa were done in by a spectacular Bhuvneshwar. The seam bowler hit the right lengths and mounted pressure on the Proteas in the power-play overs.

He sent back Jon-Jon Smuts with a knuckle ball before dismissing the skipper, JP Duminy off the last ball of his opening spell. Bhuvneshwar returned to prize out three in an over - Hendricks first and Heinrich Klaasen and Morris off consecutive balls later. The Meerut pacer finished with career best figures of 5/24.