'Once (Sanju Samson) he is striking like that, it's pretty hard to stop, and you take your hat off to him'
South Africa captain Aiden Markram didn't turn away from lavishing praise on India's Sanju Samson for his sheer class on display during the opening T20I in Durban.
After the new era dawned in Indian cricket, Samson has taken the mantle of being the next big thing and is sharing the brunt of taking the Men in Blue to new heights.
Samson's aggression reflected how India goes about its business in the shortest format of cricket. In the new landscape, Samson painted a beautiful picture by hammering 107(50), laced with seven fours and a whopping 10 maximums.
Out of the two moments where one can lay the finger to point out South Africa's defeat, Samson's swift century glamorously featured in it.
"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," Markram said in the post-match presentation.
South Africa had won the toss and decided to put India to bat, a decision which they bitterly regretted right till the end.
Even though the ball reacted quite similarly in both innings, Markram admitted that their failure to get a brisk start was the moment when they lost the game.
South Africa lost three wickets in the powerplay, which restricted David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen from straightaway opening their arms.
"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," Markram noted.
Another positive South Africa took away from the game was hidden in the way Gerald Coetzee and Marco Jansen delivered in the death overs.
South Africa conceded just 40 runs in the last six overs, a remarkable effort, which came down to the efforts of the duo.
"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," Markram remarked.
After sealing a 61-run victory, India will head to Gqeberha for the second T20I against the Proteas on Sunday.
