Samson became the first Indian batter to hit two back-to-back centuries, with his previous century having come against Bangladesh at Hyderabad in the last T20I of the IND vs BAN series.
While India looked well set to go beyond the 23-run mark, South Africa staged a late-innings comeback and restricted India to 202-8 in 20 overs, with Samson being the standout batter with 107 runs off 50 balls.
Chasing 203 runs, South Africa never looked settled throughout the chase. Skipper Markram lost his wicket to Arshdeep Singh in the very first over. Tristan Stubbs too could not contribute much as he departed after scoring 11 runs,
Ryan Rickelton and Heinrich Klaasen tried to revive SA’s innings but Varun Chakaravarthy bagged Rickelton’s wicket in the 6th over. Klaasen was joined by David Miller and the duo looked like taking South Africa out of the troubled waters but Chakaravarthy sent them both back in the hut in the same over to put out the Proteas’ final hopes.
South Africa were eventually dismissed for 141 runs in 17.5 overs, losing the series opener by 61 runs.
Sanju Samson won the Player of the Match award for his match-winning century.
