Samson, Iyer fifties in vain as India lose to South Africa by nine runs

Sanju Samson displayed valiant effort in his unbeaten knock of 86 while Shreyas Iyer hit a counterattacking fifty and Shardul Thakur produced a stunning late cameo But the trios splendid efforts went in vain as India lost to South Africa by nine runs in ODI series opener at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on ThursdayAfter David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen hit unbeaten fifties to power South Africa to 2494 after rain delayed the start by twoandahalf hours India found themselves losing four wickets for 51 runsFrom there Iyer and Samson shared a 67run stand before the latter stitched a crucial 93run stand off 65 balls with Thakur only for India to fall short narrowly giving South Africa crucial ten points to push for a direct qualification in next years ODI World CupIndias pursuit of chasing 250 were dealt with huge blows when Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell got rid of Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan respectively through thick inner edges disturbing the stumpsAlso Read Sanju Samson misses out Locals plan to protest against BCCI in ThiruvananthapuramDebutant Ruturaj Gaikwad made just 19 runs and was stumped off Tabraiz Shamsi In the next over Ishan Kishans 37ball stay at the crease came to an end by being caught at legslip off Keshav MaharajAt 514 in 174 overs the match looked to be as good as over for India But Iyer injected muchneeded momentum into the chase taking the attack to the bowlers by using his feet and timing his shots well His onslaught on Tabraiz Shamsi was a surreal one sweeping lofting and punching to get a hattrick of foursIyers counterattacking knock continued with him smacking Lungi Ngidi for a brace of fours before playing a late cut off Maharaj to reach his fifty in 33 balls But in the very next over Iyer was deceived by extra bounce on short ball and pulled straight to midonWith the required run rate going past ten Thakur had a pacy start with two quick fours and survived two lbw shouts off Shamsi on which South Africa burnt their full quota of reviews Samson then stepped upto be the aggressor lofting and pulling sweetly for boundaries before reaching his second ODI fiftyPost reaching his fifty Samson took consecutive fours off Shamsi while Thakur used Rabadas pace to hit a hattrick of fours in a 14run 37th over But in the next over Thakur danced down the pitch to heave but was caught at midoff ending a crucial 93run stand off 65 ballsWith Kuldeep Yadav and Avesh Khan falling quickly Samson tried to get an improbable win for India by hitting three fours and a six in the final over off Shamsi yielding 20 runs But it was not enough for India to avoid a narrow lossEarlier at 1104 in 222 overs South Africa were staring at a low total when Miller 75 not out off 63 balls and Klassen 74 not out off 65 balls shared a rollicking stand of 139 runs off 106 balls to take South Africa on a competitive total on a pitch which had something for bowlersIndia found movement to beat Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock couple of times Malan had luck on his side when Gill dropped his catch at first slip off Thakur De Kock got going with a brace of fours off debutant legspinner Ravi Bishnoi Thakur then gave India an important breakthrough in the 13th over when Malans flick flew off the toeend of the bat to midwicketHe came back to castle Temba Bavuma through the gate while Kuldeep got Aiden Markram out for a fiveball duck The leftarm wristspinner got the ball to drift across Markram and then spun back in sharply sneaking through the gap between bat and pad to rattle top of offstump De Kocks resistance ended when he was trapped lbw off Bishnoi while going for a reverse sweepWhen Miller came at the crease Klassen had got going with three fours Miller whos improved game against spin has been an impressive story this year took two fours in his first six balls before fabulously lofting Bishnoi over midoff for six The duo dealt in ones and twos before Klassen took boundaries off Bishnoi and Kuldeep while Miller hit Thakur for two foursAfter reaching their respective fifties in the 36th over South Africa fetched 54 runs in last five overs Miller and Klaasen were also helped by Indias sloppiness in the field with Siraj Gaikwad dropping catches and Kishan misfielding at backward point to give away a four Miller hit two sixes and a four in the last three overs while Klassen hit a four to give South Africa a total enough to take 10 series leadBrief ScoresSouth Africa 2494 in 40 overs David Miller 75 not out Heinrich Klaasen 74 not out Shardul Thakur 235 Kuldeep Yadav 139 beat India 2408 in 40 overs Sanju Samson 86 not out Shreyas Iyer 50 Lungi Ngidi 352 Kagiso Rabada 236 by nine runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in 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