Sports

Wellington, Oct 6 (IANS) New Zealand on Thursday brought in pacer Blair Tickner into the squad for the T20 Tri-Series in Christchurch, also involving Pakistan and Bangladesh, as a cover for spinner Mitchell Santner, who is on parental leave.

Santner will not arrive at the camp until the weekend following the birth of his first child last week.

The T20 Tri-series starts on Friday with Pakistan meeting Bangladesh in the opener in Christchurch.

With the Black Caps taking on Pakistan on Saturday night, the squad needed a cover for Santner and thus Tickner joined the group.

On Thursday, the New Zealand squad had their crucial practice ahead of their opening match against Pakistan in their opening match.

New Zealand are preparing for the T20 World Cup and are expected to use the 15 players in the Black Caps squad for the tournament, with selector Gavin Larsen saying on Monday that rotation would be applied and they will try different combinations over the next four or five games, depending on results.

"Certainly the goal is to rotate the squad across the playing opportunities through that tri-series and to basically fine-tune what has been our existing game plan over the recent time," Larsen was quoted as saying by the local media.

"There's certainly nothing majorly different that we're going to be focusing on - they're very important preparation games for us."

--IANS

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Jaipur, Oct 5 (IANS) India Capitals were crowned the champions of the Legends League Cricket (LLC), which was being held in India for the first time.

In an entertaining final, played at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Wednesday, the Capitals beat Bhilwara Kings by 104 runs to lift the trophy.

The Capitals, captained by Gautam Gambhir, made an excellent recovery after stumbling early to post 211/7 in 20 overs. The Kings crumbled under pressure of the tall target and were all out for just 107 in 18.2 overs.

While Ross Taylor (82 off 41 balls) and Mitchell Johnson (62 off 35 balls) were the architects of the Capitals' innings, sharing a 126-run stand for the fifth wicket, the Kings did not manage to get any meaningful partnership from their batters.

The Kings' openers, Morne van Wyk (5) and William Porterfield (12), were out inside the first four overs. A lot depended on the broad shoulders of Yusuf Pathan (6), but he did not last long. Shane Watson (27) was unfortunate to be run out, while Jesal Karia (22) showed promise but could not carry on for long.

When Irfan Pathan (2), the Kings' captain, was out in the 12th over, the chase was as good as over for them.

For the Capitals, three bowlers - Pawan Suyal (2/27), Pankaj Singh (2/14) and Pravin Tambe (2/19) - took two wickets each. It was a complete team effort which brought victory to the Capitals. Good batting was complemented by tight bowling and sharp fielding.

The Kings, however, had actually got a dream start to the final after winning the toss and electing to field. Irfan's ploy to start with spin from both ends paid dividends as the Capitals found themselves four wickets down by the fifth over.

Monty Panesar and Rahul Sharma cast their spin web to reduce the Capitals to 21/4. But then began the counterattack. Taylor and Johnson caught the Kings' bowlers by the scruff of their necks and thrashed them to all parts of the ground.

The ninth over of the match was the turning point of the Capitals' innings. Former New Zealand captain Taylor crushed Yusuf's spin to take 30 runs from the over. He hit four sixes and a four in that over.

Former England pacer Tim Bresnan finally broke the partnership, dismissing Johnson in the 15th over. But by then, Johnson had hit seven fours and three sixes.

Taylor was out in the 17th over, after hitting eight monstrous sixes and four boundaries as well. Ashley Nurse (42 off 19 balls) then played a nice cameo in the death overs to take the Capitals past the 200-mark. That proved enough for them to emerge winners handsomely.

--IANS
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Panchkula, Oct 5 (IANS) Bangladesh golfer Jamal Hossain continued his dominance to maintain the lead after the second round at the PGTI Players Championship here on Wednesday.

Jamal carded a total of 4-under 68 to consolidate his position at the top with an overall score of 11-under 133 at the end of day's play.

The standout performer of the day was Sri Lankan golfer N Thangaraja whose day's best round of 8-under 64 catapulted him to the second spot trailing the leader by just one stroke at 10-under 134. Badal Hossain of Bangladesh was placed third with an overall score of 9-under 135 at the halfway stage.

Chandigarh's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (68-68) along with Gurugram's Manu Gandas (69-67) were placed at T4 with identical scores of 8-under 136 after Round 2. The other golfers to make up the top 10 spots included Om Prakash Chouhan (68-69) and Ankur Chadha (69-68), who made a hole-in-one on the 13th, at T6 with scores of 7-under 137; PGTI Order of Merit leader Ajeetesh Sandhu (70-68) at the 8th place with a score of 6-under 138; M Dharma (70-69), Brashwarpal Singh (69-70) and Sudhir Sharma (71-68) at T9 with scores of 5-under 139.

The cut was declared at 1-under 143. Fifty-two professionals and two amateurs made the cut.

Jamal Hossain's round today consisted of five birdies and a lone bogey. Continuing with his form from Round 1, Jamal, currently ranked fifth on the PGTI's merit list, showcased his control over his second shots coupled with his impressive tee shots as he missed just one fairway today. Jamal who carded a 4-under 68 today was tied for the first place with N Thangaraja till the very last moment, but a birdie on the 7th hole helped him take the one-stroke lead over the Sri Lankan Golfer.

Jamal, a two-time runner-up on the PGTI this season, said, "My driving and my second shots bailed me out today as I missed a lot of birdie putts in the second round. I am happy to maintain my lead moving into the third round, and my focus will be on playing my best game tomorrow and day after."

Trailing Jamal by a shot but carding the day's best round of 8-under 64 was N Thangaraja from Sri Lanka who jumped 21 spots to be placed second with an overall score of 10-under 134.

Thangaraja who teed off from the 10th hole started on a positive note with birdies on the 11th, 13th and 17th holes, but his turnaround happened on his front nine, where barring a bogey on the 8th and two pars on the 2nd and 4th, he birdied every other hole.

Among the other top names, Olympian Udayan Mane, three-time PGTI Order of Merit Winner Rashid Khan and defending champion Chikkarangappa S are tied at 40th with an overall score of 1-under 143.

Two of the three Panchkula-based amateurs in the field who made the cut were Brijesh Kumar who was tied 28th at 2-under 142 and Arjun Singh Bhatia who occupied tied 40th at 1-under 143.

--IANS
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Tokyo, Oct 5 (IANS) American tennis player Taylor Fritz advanced to the second round of Japan Open Tennis Championships with a 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-1 victory over Australia's James Duckworth, here on Wednesday.

The third seed Fritz was forced to pull out ahead of the Seoul event last week due to Covid-19. After a week in full quarantine, he was cleared to make the two-hour flight to Tokyo in the nick of time, the morning of his opening-round match against Duckworth.

"(I'm feeling) better than I thought I would be."I don't feel amazing, but I'm really happy that I was able to go through all that and still show up and win my match,'' Fritz said in his post-match press conference.

The American was too sick to even exercise in his room for much of his quarantine period, but began to work out over the past three days. Still, he maintained a positive mindset entering Japan, where he had an opportunity to improve on his 10th place position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

"I felt, for whatever reason, confident that I was going to be able to come out of lockdown and strike the ball well," said Fritz, who is seeking his debut at the ATP Finals.

"I was more concerned about the cardio and my conditioning after being really sick and not having been able to do anything. Luckily the court was very fast, and so we were not playing long points, so physically I was okay," he added.

Fritz dominated the opening set and had two break points early in the second, but had to recover from a break down to force a tie-break, in which he struggled with his control. Duckworth began the deciding set full of confidence and created an early 15/40 opening on return, but the American erased the opportunity, using the escape to launch a run of five games to seal the match.

"A little bit scary in the third, a couple of break points. But aside from that I played well," said Fritz, who fired 24 aces in winning 88 per cent (50/57) of his first-serve points.

"My mindset was never that he was beating me, or up. I let some chances slip in the second set that I shouldn't have. I played a really bad game on my serve. He definitely was playing better, playing some good points, but I just told myself in the third to just keep doing what I was doing. I felt like all the chances were there in the second set; I felt like I was better. I just didn't convert, then let him convert on my serve and didn't play the best tie-break," he added.

Noting his standing in the Race To Turin, the American said he would have been devastated to miss both Seoul and Tokyo with Covid-19. After the win, he was thankful to still be playing in what he called one of his favourite tournaments.

Fritz will meet Japanese lucky loser Hiroki Moriya in the second round, with their matchup scheduled for Thursday night in the Ariake Colosseum.

"It'll be fun," he said of the matchup against the home favourite, one of two Japanese men in the second round, alongside Rio Noguchi.

"I'm going to have to play well. I'm obviously still feeling the effects of everything I've been through, so I just have to take it one match at a time, just go out there and compete. I'm excited to play at night in front of the home crowd," he concluded.

--IANS
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Gandhinagar, Oct 5 (IANS) Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Jaismine Lamboria and Mohammed Hussamuddin registered convincing victories to advance to the next round of their respective weight categories as boxing competitions at the 36th National Games kicked off at the Mahatma Mandir here on Wednesday.

Flanked by former world championship medallist Shiva Thapa, Lovlina walked into the ring amidst cheers from the sizeable crowd, more so from the Assam contingent, and took firm control of the bout against Nishi Bharadwaj in the 75kg category. The difference in class was pretty evident between the opponents from either corner, with Nishi's short frame making it even more difficult for her to connect the punches and judge had to stop fight.

Returning from a nose injury, Lovlina warmed up for the tougher bouts ahead with a flurry of punches that connected right on the Bihar pugilist's face, to eventually clinch the contest in style.

Earlier, in the women's light weight 60kg category bout, Haryana's Jaismine dominated Telangana's Manasa Matterparthi in an unanimous 5-0 verdict.

Similarly, Telangana's Hussamuddin, representing Services, made light work of Uttar Pradesh opponent Satish Kumar to record a 5-0 unanimous verdict. Later after the contest, Hussamuddin said, "There was little time to specially prepare for the National Games, as we had the trials for the Asian Championship on September 15 and 16, which meant we had very little time after the Commonwealth Games."

"It was a relatively easier opening bout today, but we have two big names in Rohit Mor (Delhi) and Sachin Siwach (Haryana) in the same category. The competition level will heat up from here on," he added.

Rohit, who was also in action in the Feather weight (57kg) category, came back from a sluggish start in the first round to register a split decision 4-1 victory over Maharastra Rushikesh Goud. In the other contest of the category, Mizoram's Lallawmawma, Himachal Pradesh's Ashish Kumar also registered victories.

In men's light weight 60kg category, Delhi boy Ritik opened his campaign with a stunning knock out win in the first round over local lad Ankit Mayaram Nishad, while Himachal's Jitender Thakur also made it a sweet outing for himself with a 5-0 unanimous verdict.

In men's light heavyweight 80kg division, Madhya Pradesh's Abhinav Bhargav and Rajasthan's Sumit Poonia advanced to the next round in contrasting style. While Bhargav recorded a split decision 3-2 win, Poonia registered a stunning 5-0 win over Mizoram's C Lalduhawma.

In men's heavyweight 92kg category, Haryana's Naveen Kumar recorded a split decision 4-1 victory in the opening round. Former national champion Narender representing the Services, walked away with a 5-0 victory over Uttar Pradesh's Vishal Yadav in a one-sided affair of the super heavy weight +92kg category. In the same division, Uttarakhand's Sagar Singh also made it to the next round.

--IANS
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Cape Town, Oct 5 (IANS) South Africa women's top-order batter Lara Goodall eagerly excited for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of representing her country in the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup that will be hosted on home soil from February 10-26 next year.

Lara is especially excited about the possibility of featuring in the opening match against Sri Lanka on Friday, 10 February taking place at the Newlands Cricket Ground, a place the left-hander calls home.

"I don't think it has actually sunk in yet. It's something that we've been preparing for, for quite a while. We have just been preparing like it is a normal World Cup, but it is one on home soil and luckily for me, it is my home ground."

"The opening game is at Newlands, and I have grown up in Cape Town, I lived here all my life and to be able to say I have played a World Cup game on home soil will mean a lot to me and my family, it's such a big occasion," said Lara during the fixture and ticket sales launch of the tournament.

Lara has enjoyed a fruitful year in T20Is for South Africa, recording her maiden half-century during a three-match series against Ireland earlier in the year before going onto notch up 144 runs in six innings at a positive strike rate of 127.43. She was also a part of the historic Commonwealth Games campaign in Birmingham for Team South Africa.

"To be part of any World Cup opening day is special and to be the home nation makes it even better. I am sure all the girls will try and get their families down as much as they can and just to be able to say you played in the first game of a World Cup is something that every cricketer dreams of."

"To be able to do it at such a ground like Newlands Cricket Ground is unreal and it is really an experience that the girls will take in and remember for the rest of their lives," added Lara.

Lara would be hoping to take that momentum into the global showpiece, with South Africa drawn in Group A alongside the defending champions, Australia as well as New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as they hope to secure another semi-final spot in a major competition.

"You know Australia are defending champions and they are probably the best team in the world, they have been for quite a long time, but you know playing at home, having home advantage on our side, we always feel like we have a chance. We had a good go at them in the semi-finals at the last T20 World Cup."

"It is a tough group; we have seen New Zealand on their day can beat any team. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also teams that have played a lot of T20 World Cups and they are experienced in the format; they can do anything on the day. It can be pressure as well, but we just have to take it as an advantage and extra motivation to make South Africa proud."

"We cannot play the opposition; we can just play the way we want to play and play to the best of our abilities. We know if we play to our strengths, we know we can beat any cricket side and having home fans and being able to play in front of everyone from South Africa will definitely be an advantage for us," elaborated Lara.

Lara signed off by encouraging the South African public to show their support to the women's team and welcome the world to their country, highlighting the double headers as an attractive element to the event.

"It's simple, come and enjoy some cricket. I feel like there will be a lot of buzz around the game and there will be a lot to do at the game, so it is going to be fun, for kids especially. I would love to see thousands of kids at the game."

"You don't only get one game, you get two games for the price of one so that's an added bonus and it's a family outing, you can just come and enjoy; sit on the grass banks at Newlands and Paarl and enjoy the atmosphere, and experience something not everyone can say that they have," she concluded.


--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) India's men's and women's hockey goalkeepers PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia have been voted the FIH Goalkeepers of the Year 2021/22 in their respective categories, according to the international hockey federation (FIH).

Savita was magnificent in the Indian goal, often surprising her opponents with her ability to pull off saves from impossible situations during the 2022 Tokyo Olympics and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

"It therefore comes as no surprise that she received nearly twice as many votes from her peers around the world, as anyone else nominated in the best goalkeeper category at the FIH Hockey Stars Awards," said an FIH statement.

Savita is not just India's last line of the defence, she also plays a crucial role in leading the side, having taken over the captaincy from Rani Rampal, who missed a large part of the previous year due to injury.

Savita was instrumental in leading India to a podium finish in the Pro League 2021/22, in their debut campaign, pulling off 57 saves in the 14 games she played.

Her form only improved at the Women's World Cup, as she pulled off some incredible saves as India held the eventual gold medallists England to a draw in the Pool stages. She also had a remarkable game in the cross-over match against Spain, making seven saves, according to FIH.

As India headed to the Commonwealth Games following a dismal World Cup campaign, Savita once again inspired her team, as India ended a 16-year podium drought in Birmingham. She had a superb game in the bronze-medal match against New Zealand, which included multiple match-winning saves in the shoot-out that brought about the end of the medal drought for the Indian women's team.

Savita is now only the third athlete to win the 'Goalkeeper of the Year (women)' for consecutive years since the inception of the award in 2014, finishing on top with 37.6 points. Argentina legend Belen Succi received second most points with 26.4, followed by Hockeyroos stalwart Jocelyn Bartam who finished with 16 points.

PR Sreejesh, the 34-year-old men's team goalkeeper who is into his 16th full year as international for the country, once again showed his value to the team, playing in all 16 games in the Pro League as India finished third. He also played all six games at 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games where India won silver.

During the course of the season, Sreejesh also completed 250 appearances for India, becoming the eighth Indian to achieve the figure, and the only goalkeeper to do so.

Sreejesh has become the third goalkeeper to win back-to-back FIH Goalkeeper of the Year awards. A similar feat was achieved in the past by David Harte (Ireland) who won the award in 2015 and 2016, and Vincent Vanasch (Belgium) who won it three consecutive times from 2017 to 2019.

Sreejesh finished the voting with 39.9 total points, followed by Belgium's Loic van Doren who finished second with 26.3 points and Netherlands' Primin Blaak in third place scoring 23.2 points.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, Oct 5 (IANS) With exactly 100 days to go for the 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, India captain Manpreet Singh has said this is the most exciting phase of the build-up, and the team's performance at the 2022 Tokyo Olympics and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games has given hope that the side can win the coveted trophy.

With hockey fever on the rise in the country, the best exponents of the sport will make their way to India to compete for the World Cup trophy. India, who won silver at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, are eager to continue their good form and emerge champions.

"This is a very exciting time for us. There are only 100 days to go for the World Cup. We have been working very hard for this tournament and we are eager to perform for our country. Hopefully, we can go on and win the biggest hockey tournament in the world. We have performed consistently since the Olympics and we will look to continue our form in the World Cup," said Manpreet.

Vice-captain Harmanpreet Singh said his side had improved manifold in the last few years and the World Cup will provide the opportunity to realise its full potential.

"We cannot wait for the World Cup to begin. Our team has grown manifold in the last few years and it's time to play to our full potential and win the FIH World Cup for India. We have been working on all the aspects of our game that we need to improve and I feel we will put up an even better performance in this edition of the World Cup," said Harmanpreet.


FIH CEO Thierry Weil also expressed his excitement for the World Cup, saying, "It really is exciting that the World Cup is only 100 days away! We're looking forward to outstanding matches in the iconic Kalinga Stadium of Bhubaneswar and the brand-new Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela, which will be a fantastic legacy for hockey, not only for India but for the world. On behalf of FIH, I'd like to renew our thanks to Hockey India for putting together what will for sure be a memorable event."

Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said, "Hosting the World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela is a huge honour for us and we cannot wait to welcome the world's top hockey players to India. All the preparations for the tournament are on track and we are very excited to organise the biggest hockey tournament. I would like to invite all the hockey fans to Bhubaneswar and Rourkela to witness the high-octane action between the world's best sides."

The Indian team will take on Spain in their first match of the World Cup at the newly-built Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela on January 13, 2023.

--IANS

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Indore, Oct 5 (IANS) India head coach Rahul Dravid on Tuesday said that team will definitely miss the services of Jasprit Bumrah in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 but added that it's an opportunity for someone else to stand up in the absence of premier pacer in Australia.

India were dealt a massive blow going into the T20 World Cup with Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of the tournament with a back injury on Monday. The decision was taken following a detailed assessment after he was ruled out of the South Africa T20Is.

"Bumrah's absence is a big loss, he's been a great player but it happens, it's an opportunity for someone else to stand up. We will miss him, we will miss his personality around the group for sure," said Dravid in the post-match presentation after the third T20I, which India lost by 49 runs against South Africa.

Asked about the promotion of Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant in the batting order, Dravid said that it was an opportunity to give these guys some time in the middle.

"I think today was an opportunity to give these guys some batting. It is tough on guys like Dinesh and Rishabh who don't get too many hits in the middle. I felt they were batting really well at one moment, had they played longer we might have got closer," he said.

"I feel batting at 6, it's always tough when you have to bat just 5-10 balls, so it's always nice to get a few balls under their belt like they did today. I feel the way Harshal and the rest of the lower order batted was also really good," he added.

The coach was pleased with the overall result in the back to back home T20I series against Australia and South Africa.

"I think it's good to get the right results in both these home series wins. In this format of the game, you need to have the rub of the green go our way, which didn't happen in the Asia Cup," he added.

Talking about India's aggressive batting approach, the 49-year old said it was a conscious decision after the last T20 World Cup.

"We've made a decision after the last T20 World Cup where we sat down as a group and decided to play more positively. We believe we have the quality as a group to play more aggressively, we've been able to do that without being bowled out too often," he said.

The former India captain also had a message for fans ahead of the World Cup.

"We are going to do our best, we've really worked hard and we can just hope for the best. In tournaments like those, you need to play really well but we need a bit of luck as well," he said.

"We hope to bring smiles to people's faces. I think since crowds have been allowed into stadiums, we've got great support everywhere we've gone and the boys are really encouraged by that support. We'll have that in Australia as well, we'll try our best," he added.

--IANS
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Indore, Oct 4 (IANS) A scintillating maiden T20I century from Rilee Rossouw led South Africa to a convincing 49 run win over India in the third and final T20I and helped them avoid a clean sweep in the three-match series at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.

With the win in the first two T20Is, India won the three-match series 2-1. On the other hand, the win in the last game will give the Proteas momentum heading into the upcoming ODI series and also some confidence ahead of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia.

A brilliant century from Rossouw (100 not out off 48) and a fine fifty by Quinton de Kock (68 off 43) powered South Africa to 227/3 in 20 overs, after being invited to bat first. Apart from Rossouw and De Kock, Tristan Stubbs (23 off 18) and David Miller (19 not out off 5) also played valuable knocks for South Africa, who were also helped by India's sloppy fielding.

Chasing a mammoth total, India were off to a poor start, losing the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer early. Rohit, while trying to drive off the back foot, got out for a duck on the second ball of the innings to Rabada. On the other hand, Iyer was trapped in front of the wicket by left-armer Parnell.

Despite the wickets, Pant, who opened the innings and Karthik, who came to bat at No 4, dealt in regular boundaries to get India going in the chase. Pant slammed two sixes and two fours off Ngidi in the fifth over but got out soon after, handing a catch to Stubbs at cover-point to depart for a 14-ball 27.

However, Karthik ensured that India had a profitable powerplay. He hit six, four, six off Parnell in the sixth over as India managed 39 off the last two powerplay overs and reached 64/3 after six overs.

Veteran Karthik also struck two sixes off Maharaj in the seventh over, but he got out to the spinner bowled for a 21-ball 46 after failing to execute a reverse shot. Suryakumar Yadav, couldn't do much and got out to Pretorius after striking a six, with Stubbs taking an excellent diving catch running in from deep extra cover, leaving India in deep trouble at 86/5 after 8 overs.

Thereafter, Harshal Patel (17) and Axar Patel (9) had a brief partnership of 22 runs for the sixth wicket but they too got out in quick succession. Having struck two fours and a six, Harshal got out to Ngidi as he found Miller at long-off while Axar got out for 9 off 8, getting an under edge off Parnell to hand wicket-keeper a catch. Ravichandran Ashwin (2) also couldn't do much and got out to Keshav Maharaj as India slipped further to 120/8 in the 13th over.

It was Deepak Chahar, who did some good hitting, smashing two fours and two sixes and helped India to the 150 mark in the 16th over while Umesh also scored a couple of boundaries during their partnership.

The 48-run stand for the ninth wicket came to an end when Chahar, after striking a six off Pretorius, fell in his attempt to score another, departing for 31 off 17, leaving India at 168/9 in the 17th over. Siraj was the last to depart, getting out to Pretorius as India were bowled out for 178 in 18.3 overs. Dwaine Pretorius 3/26, Keshav Maharaj 2/34) were the most successful bowlers for Proteas.

Earlier, put into bat first, De Kock gave Sri Lanka a flying start, smashing all India pacers Siraj and Chahar for boundaries and sixes. However, skipper Temba Bavuma was struggling at the other end. Umesh, introduced into the attack in the fourth over, struck off his first ball to end Bavuma's struggle, leaving South Africa to 30/1 after 4.1 overs.

Rilee Rossouw, who came to bat next, started his innings on a positive note, hitting a four to leg side boundary off Umesh and followed it up with another four a little finer. He then went over deep midwicket off Ashwin for his first six as South Africa ended the powerplay at 48/1.

Even after the end of powerplay, both South African batters continued their aggressive intent. De Kock reverse-sweeped Ashwin for a six and in the same over, Siraj put down a catch to give Rossouw a reprieve and a six. Soon, De Kock brought up his fifty in 33-balls with a six off Umesh. In the same over, Rossouw went past fine leg for a four as South Africa moved to 96/1 after 10 overs.

Both Rossouw and De Kock were holding the South Africa innings firm and Indian bowlers had no answers. It was eventually Shreyas Iyer's bullet throw which brought some respite for India, when De Kock attempted a quick second but got run out, leaving South Africa to 120/2 in 12.1 overs.

De Kock's wicket didn't affect South Africa much as a barrage of fours and sixes continued, with Umesh and Axar taken to the cleaners. With a six off Axar, Rossouw brought up a 27-ball fifty and then hit six off Harshal as South Africa moved to 154/2 after 15 overs.

Young Tristan Stubbs was also complementing Rossouw well from the other hand with timely boundaries as South Africa were racing towards a strong finish. Rossouw got to his maiden T20I ton - off 48 deliveries - with a single off Chahar in the first ball of the last over. The pacer then dismissed Stubbs in the next ball, which brought dangerous David Miller to the crease.

Miller then hit three sixes off Chahar as South Africa got 24 off the final over to finish with a mammoth total of 227-3 in 20 overs. Umesh Yadav (1/34) and Deepak Chahar (1/48) were the wicket-takers for India.

Brief scores: South Africa 227-3 in 20 Overs (Rilee Rossouw 100 not out, Quinton de Kock 68; Umesh Yadav 1/34) beat India 178-10 in 18.3 Overs (Dinesh Karthik 46, Deepak Chahar 31; Dwaine Pretorius 3/26, Keshav Maharaj 2/34) by 49 runs

--IANS
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