What the Proteas learnt, or didn’t, in their hiding from India in first T20I
South Africa's captain Aiden Markram (L) is clean bowled during the first Twenty20 international cricket match against India at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on December 9, 2025. Picture: Noah Seelam/AFP
Image: Noah Seelam/AFP
While the Proteas crashed to a 101-run defeat to India in the first T20 International in Cuttack on Tuesday, it was not without a number of hard lessons.
Though it may seem on the surface that the batting was the biggest problem, the Proteas did not show a killer instinct with the ball after a good start.
India had been reduced to 78/4 in the 12th over, but somehow they were able to score almost 100 runs in their final eight overs as South Africa had no answer to the brutal strokeplay of Hardik Pandya, who struck an explosive 59 unbeaten from 28 balls coming in at number seven.
There is no reason why the Proteas should have been unable to restrict the hosts to under 140 once India made such a poor start.
The Proteas also welcomed back a couple of veterans - David Miller and Anrich Nortje.
Nortje’s Wicketless Return and Proteas’ Early Collapse Highlight India’s Dominance
While it was good to see Nortje complete his four overs injury-free, he went wicketless as he returned figures of 0/41 from his four overs. Only Keshav Maharaj was more expensive per over on the day, but he picked up two wickets at least.
Then, of course, in the Proteas chase, the returning Quinton de Kock was not much help as he edged to the slips off just the second ball of the innings to be dismissed for a duck.
Aiden Markram (14), Tristan Stubbs (14) and Dewald Brevis (22) made decent starts before they were out. Miller then lasted just three balls before he was out for one, and by the time the inexperienced Donovan Ferreira was out for five, the Proteas were 50/5 and the contest was already sealed.
It’s no coincidence either that India and South Africa were the finalists of the previous World Cup in 2024. Of course, India were crowned champions as South Africa’s search for a World Cup trophy in limited-overs competitions continues.
While India have arguably become a better team since the final in June last year, South Africa seem to have gone in the other direction.
How far in the other direction that is, we will get a better idea in the second of the five-match series in New Chandigarh on Thursday.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
** JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Send us an email with your comments, thoughts or responses to iolletters@inl.co.za. Letters should be a maximum of 500 words, and may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Submissions should include a contact number and physical address (not for publication).