'Sanju Samson is hard to stop': Aiden Markram in awe of Indian batter after Durban T20I

The Aiden Markram-led South Africa hosted the Suryakumar Yadav-led India in the first T20I of the four-match series on Friday, November 8, at the Kingsmead in Durban.

India National Cricket Team defeated the Aiden Markram-led South Africa National Cricket Team by 61 runs in the match to take a 1-0 lead in the series. The next game of the series is scheduled to be played on Sunday, November 10, at St George's Park in Gqeberha.

South Africa fail badly in the run-chase against India

South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match. The decision heavily backfired for the hosts and the Indian batters took the bowlers to the cleaners.

Sanju Samson was the chief architect behind the destruction as he absolutely annihilated the Proteas bowling unit. Samson hit his second consecutive T20I century and finished with the innings of 107 runs off 50 balls. India ended up piling 202/8 on the board.

For South Africa, Gerald Coetzee emerged as the top performer as in his four overs, the right-arm pacer bagged three wickets and gave away just 37 runs.

Also Read: Watch: Suryakumar Yadav engages in heated altercation with Marco Jansen to protect Sanju Samson

Sanju played incredibly well - Aiden Markram stated after 1st T20I

In an interaction after the conclusion of the match, Aiden Markram denied blaming the toss decision for the loss of South Africa and said that the new ball provided equal help to both teams. He said:

"[if the toss decision of his played a part in hindsight] Not so much about the toss. Both new balls did a bit with the extra bounce; it was consistent in the two innings. Once the newish ball wore out, it played well. We wanted to get off to a better start and that is where we lost the game."

Aiden Markram further talked about Sanju Samson and lauded the Indian batter for his heroics. The Proteas captain admitted that it was hard to stop Sanju Samson after he went into beast mode.

"Sanju played incredibly well, put our bowlers under pressure, plans to negate him and better plans will help us going forward. Once he is striking like that, it's pretty hard to stop and you take your hat off to him," Aiden Markram said.

Aiden Markram picked Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen as the two positives for South Africa and said that they need to regroup quickly and come up with better plans in the next T20I.

"We had a couple of meetings today with who were bowling the death overs, incredibly proud with the two (Coetzee and Jansen) and a really big positive for us tonight. [on plans for the next game] From an individual point of view they will understand where they can get better and then meet as a batting and bowling group, you don't fix it in the nets, it's more about the approach and tactical point of view," Aiden Markram said.

The previous T20I series between India and South Africa ended in a draw

The 2023 T20I series between India and South Africa ended in a 1-1 draw. The first T20I in Durban was called off due to persistent rain.

The action finally began in Gqeberha as South Africa secured a solid win in the second T20I. India batted first and posted 180/7 on the board, largely thanks to a stunning 68 from Rinku Singh and a quickfire 56 from captain Suryakumar Yadav.

South Africa’s chase was aided by the DLS method, requiring them to score 152 from 15 overs. Reeza Hendricks set the tone with a brisk 49, supported by Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs, helping South Africa achieve a five-wicket win with seven balls to spare.

Then, India came back with a spectacular performance in the third and final T20I in Johannesburg. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored an amazing 60 runs, while Suryakumar Yadav smashed a remarkable 100 off 56 balls, leading India to a formidable total of 201/7.

South Africa's chase faltered early as the Indian bowlers, particularly Kuldeep Yadav with his impressive five-wicket haul, dismantled their lineup, bowling them out for just 95 runs in 13.5 overs. India won by a massive 106 runs, tying the series 1-1.