Man of the Match today India vs South Africa 1st T20I: Who was declared IND vs SA Man of the Match in Thiruvananthapuram T20I?

IND vs SA Man of the Match: The Indian fast bowler was awarded the match award for his spell with the new ball.

During the first T20I of South Africa’s second tour of India in 2022 in Thiruvananthapuram, India beat South Africa by 8 wickets to gain a 1-0 lead in a three-match series.

Chasing a 107-run target, India thrived on the back of a 93-run third-wicket partnership between vice-captain KL Rahul (51*) and batter Suryakumar Yadav (50*).

Yadav, in particular, didn’t let India get affected by their worst performance in a powerplay. Coming in to bat at No. 4 right after the powerplay, Yadav was up and running within no time on the back of consecutive sixes against South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje.

Batting in almost his preferred risk-involving manner on a surface not conducive to this format, Yadav hit five fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 151.51. Rahul, on the other hand, hit two fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 91.07 in an innings which remained scratchy for majority of its duration.

IND vs SA Man of the Match

Before Rahul and Yadav shining as a pair in the second innings, it was India’s new-ball bowling pair of Deepak Chahar and Arshdeep Singh which had put them in a match-winning position within the first 15 balls of the match.

With captain Rohit Sharma (0) electing to bowl first, Chahar and Singh joined hands to reduce the Proteas to 9/5 in the third over. Making the new ball swing at will, the right-arm and left-arm bowlers’ testing spells resulted in five South African batters scoring a total of one run between them.

Singh, who dismissed Quinton de Kock (1), Rilee Rossouw (0) and David Miller (0) to pick bowling figures of 4-0-32-3 and become the pick of the Indian bowlers, was awarded his maiden match award in international cricket.