(Cricket news) South Africa defeated India by 9 runs in the 1st ODI at Lucknow to take a 1-0 lead in the 3 match series. Heavy rain delayed the toss and the match had to be cut down to 40 overs. India went with a surprising line-up to say the least. Ruturaj Gaikwad who is an opener batted one down while India's batting ended at number 6 as number 7 Shardul Thakur cannot be considered as a batter and on top of that the men in blue didn't have a 6th bowling which is a recipe for trouble. South Africa on the other hand went with a pretty strong XI but without Dwaine Pretorius who suffered an injury. Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and put the Proteas into bat first.
Quinton de Kock gave his side a decent start with his 48 off 54 balls. The pitch wasn't easy to bat on especially early on but De Kock along with Janeman Malan did really well to build a partnership. India pulled things back with wickets in the middle overs. Shardul Thakur once again displayed his golden arm by picking up 2 wickets. Ravi Bishnoi dismissed De Kock while Kuldeep Yadav knocked over Aiden Markram with a beauty. David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen put on an unbeaten partnership of 139 runs to lead South Africa to a formidable total of 249 in 40 overs. Miller followed his incredible T20I series with a 63 ball 75 hitting 5 four and 3 sixes. Klaasen on the other hand scored 74 off 65 balls as he hit 6 boundaries and 2 maximums.
India's chase got off to a terrible start as they lost Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan very cheaply. India's innings was changed by Shreyas Iyer who came in and scored 50 off just 27 balls. Iyer played positively in tough conditions hitting 8 boundaries in his innings. After that it was the Sanju Samson show as he scored an unbeaten 86 off just 63 balls. Samson hit 9 fours and a six but his efforts went in vain as India fell 9 runs short. Shardul Thakur played a good Cameo of 33 but India really suffered due to their long tail. Shikhar Dhawan and his boys will be looking to level the series in Ranchi on Sunday.
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