IND vs SA: Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya efforts keep India afloat as Men in Blue end with 124/6 against South Africa

After a strong start to their 4-match T20I series, this was surely not what fans expected. South Africa delivered an excellent bowling performance, restricting India to a modest total of 124/6 in 20 overs at St George's Park in Gqeberha. The only saving grace for the Men in Blue was Hardik Pandya's 39 off 45 balls and Axar Patel's 27 off 21. Tilak Varma also contributed with 20 off 20, helping India reach the 120-run mark.

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The visitors lost Sanju Samson (0 off 3), Abhishek Sharma (4 off 5), and Suryakumar Yadav (4 off 9) within the first 4 overs. The batters who followed couldn’t increase the scoring rate either, and the road to recovery was far from smooth.

While Tilak played a run-a-ball knock of 20, Axar provided some resistance with an attacking 27 but was unfortunately run out at the bowler's end. Rinku Singh (9 off 11) couldn’t make a substantial impact either. Hardik Pandya added a useful contribution towards the end, helping India cross the 100-run mark.

For the Proteas, aside from Keshav Maharaj, the rest of the bowlers – Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Andile Phehlukwayo, Andile Simelane, and Aiden Markram – each claimed a wicket.

As for the squads, India made no changes to their playing XI, while the Proteas made one change, bringing in Reeza Hendricks for Patrick Kruger.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Avesh Khan

South Africa (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen(w), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Andile Simelane, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Nqabayomzi Peter

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