India captain KL Rahul was ecstatic after the young Men in Blue clinched a 8-wicket win over South Africa in the 1st ODI at Johannesburg. Debutant Sai Sudharasan made a promising start to his ODI career, scoring a fifty on debut and remaining unbeaten. Shreyas Iyer scored 52 off 45 deliveries, building a strong partnership with Sudharsan. India chased down the 117-run target in just 16.4 overs to 1-0 up in the IND vs SA ODI series.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, KL Rahul lauded his team for being disciplined and admitted that the game turned out to be completely different from what they expected. Revealing that India’s plan was initially to deploy spinners, Rahul noted that the team did well even as the ball kept moving around.
“I am happy. Good to have a win under the belt. Completely different to what we expected. The plan was to get the spinners in the game. The boys did really well. The boys did well to stay disciplined. The ball kept moving around. There is a lot of cricket being played. You prioritize one format. For now, it is Tests and T20s. Everyone is performing and trying to do well for the country. Good chance for them to get a taste of international cricket”, winning skipper KL Rahul said.
IND overpower SA in 1st ODI
South Africa’s pace attack faltered in the absence of their experienced players as India smothered the Proteas to victory. Andile Phehlukwayo, Nandre Burger and Wiaan Mulder were all that the hosts had to defend an impossible 116-run target, which they failed to do so.