In the first ODI against South Africa on Thursday (October 6) in Lucknow, India's skipper Shikhar Dhawan lauded the "tremendous" effort made with the bat by Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, and Shardul Thakur despite the result not going in the team's favour.
In the rain-affected 40-over game, Samson, Shreyas, and Shardul kept the team in the hunt after losing a bunch of wickets early while chasing a goal of 250 on a pitch that was almost a bowler's paradise.
Team India missed the target by 9 runs, nevertheless, as a result of the Proteas bowler's immaculate bowling in the slog overs.
"Very proud of the way the boys played. It's tremendous the way Shreyas, Samson, and Shardul played," Dhawan said in the post-match presentation.
Dhawan admitted that if those dropped catches and misfields hadn't occurred, the target could have been smaller.
"I thought 250 was too many runs because the wicket had turn and seam. Even fielding-wise, we leaked a few runs; but it'll be a good experience and learning for the young boys,"
Quinton de Kock's laborious knock (48 off 54 balls) and Heinrich Klassen and David Miller's commendable knocks toward the end of the innings—the former hitting 74* while the latter scored a run more—helped South Africa reach 249/4 batting first.
In reply, India found itself in a spot of bother at 51/4 in the 18th over when in walked Sanju Samson who initiated a counterattack.
Samson along with Shreyas Iyer put on a 67-run stand for the fifth wicket before Iyer perished for a well-made 50 off just 37 balls.
Samson continued the onslaught as if batting on some different pitch and stayed unbeaten on 86 off just 63 balls.
Shardul Thakur too batted splendidly for his 31-ball 33 but these performances weren’t enough to take the team over the line.
The 2nd ODI will be played in Ranchi on Sunday (October 09).
(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)
