It boiled down to a battle between two contrasting bowling attacks. With the dew hanging heavily in the hilly Dharamsala air at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Faf du Plessis went in with a South African attack heavy on the pace quotient. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on the other hand, preferred things a little slower, opting for the military pace of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, debutant Sreenath Aravind and Mohit Sharma, complimented by the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel.

Sharma’s exquisite century

For three quarters of the match, it seemed Dhoni’s punt had worked. Especially when India were batting and Rohit Sharma was hitting it all over the park. With the dew playing a major role, South Africa’s bowlers were spraying it all over the place, conceding extras and missing their length to be swiftly dispatched over their heads. Imran Tahir, the lone spinner in South Africa’s attack, had the worst of it, being smashed for three sixes in one over, as Rohit Sharma galloped to a rollicking century, showcasing the style and elegance that has become his forte. South Africa pushed it back a little in the last few but a target of 200, especially for a touring team in its first match, seemed quite formidable.

The danger was AB De Villiers and India’s fears were justified, when Hashim Amla and De Villiers got off to a swift start. But when Ashwin applied the brakes with a beautiful looping off-spinner, completely deceiving De Villiers in flight, the wheels started coming off a bit. Giving company to Ashwin, Patel also started off well, going only for 12 in his first two overs, completely par for the course in Twenty20. Aravind got into the act himself with a canny slower delivery to get rid of Faf du Plessis. At 95/3, the Proteas were wobbling and Dhoni’s strategy of “going slow” seemed to be an inspired one.

Patel’s horror over

Unfortunately, Dhoni’s best-laid plans fell to pieces with one over. Having played Ashwin out, South Africa were desperately in need of the charge. As Sunil Gavaskar said on live commentary, Axar Patel, for all his strengths, can get a tad predictable on unhelpful pitches, due to his lack of turn. With 66 required off 30 balls, Patel completely lost his bearings, dishing out length deliveries right in the slot, with Jean-Paul Duminy ensuring that he did not miss out. Three massive sixes later, Patel’s figures were ruined, Duminy had tasted blood and South Africa smelt victory.

With things getting a bit too close for comfort, Dhoni called in his pacers back but perhaps overcompensated. Despite Kumar coming up with a good over, Duminy played the role of the finisher with ease, never taking unnecessary risks but ensuring he stayed in touch with the required run rate. With ten required off the final over, Dhoni had used up all his bowlers and was only left with Sreenath Aravind. In hindsight, it might have been better to bowl the debutant earlier and leave the last over for one of his more experienced bowlers. Unfortunately, Aravind proved he was no Joginder Sharma and after two great deliveries right in the blockhole, dished out a juicy full toss which Duminy duly dispatched to the mid-wicket boundary to seal the game for South Africa.

The short nature of the Twenty20 format makes it unfair to make any sweeping judgements on any team, especially after a see-sawing game like this. For Dhoni and Shastri, one thing though seems very certain now – this looks like a very determined South African team who are hell-bent on ensuring that India do not have it easy. Grab the popcorn, this could be one of the most exciting series on Indian soil in recent times.

First T20I: South Africa (200 for 3 in 19.4 overs) beat India (199 for 5 in 20 overs) by seven wickets.