Klaasen, Miller shine as South Africa beat India by nine runs in 1st ODI in Lucknow

Published on: Oct 07, 2022

Heinrich Klaasen (74* off 65) and David Miller (75* off 63) played excellent knocks as South Africa claimed the crucial 1-0 lead in the three-match one-day series against India. Sent into bat after losing the toss in the opening ODI Lucknow on Thursday, October 6, the Proteas put up an impressive 249 for 4 in 40 overs in a rain-affected match.

The visitors lost Janneman Malan for 22, skipper Temba Bavuma for 8 and Aiden Markram for a duck. Quinton de Kock looked good for his 48, but could not carry on to register a bigger score. His dismissal left South Africa in some trouble at 110 for 4 in the 23rd over. However, Klaasen and Miller added an unbroken 139 runs for the fifth wicket as the Proteas ended their innings in commanding fashion.

For India, Shardul Thakur claimed 2 for 35, picking up the wickets of Malan and Bavuma. Kuldeep also impressed with figures of 1 for 39, cleaning up Markram with a beauty. Debutant Ravi Bishnoi (1/69) and Avesh Khan (0/51), however, proved expensive.

In the chase, India crumbled to 51 for 4 in 18 overs. Shubman Gill was bowled by Kagiso Rabada for 3, while skipper Shikhar Dhawan (4) chopped on against Wayne Parnell. Ruturaj Gaikwad (19 off 42) and Ishan Kishan (20 off 37) also struggled for fluency and were dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj respectively.

Shreyas Iyer (50 off 37) played some handsome strokes to give India faint hope. However, the short ball proved to be his undoing again as he miscued Lungi Ngidi to mid-on. When all seemed lost, Sanju Samson played some terrific strokes to give India a semblance of hope. He struck nine fours and three sixes in a valiant 86 not out off 63 balls. He fought till the very end. With India needing 30 off the last over, he clubbed Shamsi for a six and three fours to reduce the margin of defeat to single figures.

Samson and Thakur (33 off 31) added 93 for the sixth wicket to bring India back in the game to some extent after the contest seemed to be heading one way. Thakur’s dismissal in the 38th over, however, sank India’s faint chances. Kuldeep was dismissed off the very next ball and although Samson went berserk in the last over, it was too little too late.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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