India vs South Africa 1st T20I: In-form Samson's historic first, Proteas' forgettable night in Durban and more stats

Team India began their short tour of South Africa with a 61-run win in the first T20I at Kingsmead, Durban on Friday, thanks to Sanju Samson (107) and spinners Varun Chakaravarthy (3/25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3/28). Samson’s century set the platform for India after the Men in Blue were asked to bat first by the Proteas. The Kerala batter, in his bid to become a T20I regular after being in and out of the team often, grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he slammed a 47-ball century to power India to 202/8.

As it happened | India vs South Africa, 1st T20I in Durban 

A majority of South Africa’s batters looked unsettled in the run chase. The hosts were restricted to 49/3 in the powerplay, and while Heinrich Klaasen (25) and David Miller (18) looked to script a composed fightback, it wasn’t meant to be as Varun and Bishnoi struck at regular intervals.

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Once Klaasen and Miller departed in the 12th over, South Africa’s hopes of a fightback all but diminished and were all out for 141 in 17.5 overs. India thus took a 1-0 lead in the four-match T20I series. Quite a few milestones were set and records broken during the first T20I. We take a look at some of those:

Stats and records broken in first India vs South Africa T20I 

—India now hold the record of the second-most and third-most wins in T20Is in a calendar year. The Men in Blue had won 28 T20Is in 2022 and have so far won 22 T20Is in 2024. This may come as a surprise but Uganda are the side with most T20I wins in a calendar year (29 wins in 2023).

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—With his knock of 107 on Friday, Sanju Samson became the first Indian to hit consecutive T20I centuries. He also became the fourth cricketer overall to do so. Other players to score consecutive T20I centuries are Gustav Mckeon (France), Rilee Rossouw (South Africa) and Phil Salt (England). Samson had scored 111 off 47 balls against Bangladesh in Hyderabad on 12 October.

—Sanju Samson also set the record for the fastest T20I century by an Indian batter against South Africa. He reached the milestone in 47 deliveries against South Africa on Friday, surpassing Suryakumar Yadav’s record of getting to the ton against Proteas in 55 balls in 2023.

—Samson also became the first wicketkeeper-batter to score two centuries in T20Is. He is also the fourth Indian batter to slam more than one century for the country in T20Is.

—Samson equalled Rohit Sharma for most sixes hit by an Indian in a T20I match. Sanju Samson hit 10 sixes on Sunday, the same number as Rohit against Sri Lanka in 2017.

—The 30-year-old scored 64 runs against spinners on Friday. That’s the second-most by an Indian batter against spinners in a T20I innings, after Abhishek Sharma had scored 65 runs against Zimbabwean spinners in Harare earlier this year.

—South Africa have now lost five back-to-back T20Is in Durban. That’s the most number of matches that the Proteas have lost at a single venue in the shortest format. South Africa’s last T20I win in Durban came on 4 March, 2016 when they defeated Australia by three wickets.