'Fought till last ball' - Twitter hails Sanju Samson's heroics despite South Africa beating India by nine runs in the first ODI

The first game of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa got underway on Thursday at Lucknow. After much delay due to the rain, the game was reduced to 40 over-per-side. Indian captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and elected to field first.

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The Indian seamers were right on the money from the word go as they got some assistance from the overcast conditions. South African openers Janneman Malan and Quinton De Kock played cautiously early on and added 49 runs for the first wicket. Shardul Thakur drew the first blood for India as he removed Janneman Malan. Thakur struck again for India cleaning up the Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma.

The Indian spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi also got into the act as they picked up wickets of Aiden Markram and Quinton De Kock. Yadav bowled a dream delivery to get rid of Markram. With the score on 110/4 after 22.2 overs, David Miller and Heinrich Klaseen got together at the crease and stitched a brilliant partnership of 139 for the fifth wicket.

Klaasen remained unbeaten on 74 off 65 balls with six boundaries and two sixes while Miller amassed 75 off 63 balls, smashing five fours and three sixes.

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The Indian chase got off to a miserable start as both the openers, Shubhman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan, departed early. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan tried to stabilize the innings with a 40-run stand but succumbed to constant pressure from Proteas bowlers.

As India were struggling at 51/4 after 17.4 overs, Shreyas Iyer walked to the crease and showed clear intent to score runs. Iyer looked like batting on a different pitch as he consistently found boundaries in his innings. He brought up his half-century off 33 balls and kept India in the hunt. However, he was dismissed shortly after that, leaving India at 118/5 after 26.4 overs.

Shardul Thakur joined Sanju Samson at the crease to script a miraculous victory for the Indian team. After playing second fiddle to Iyer, Samson found his rhythm and began to attack the South African bowlers. Shardul Thakur also joined the party soon as both began plundering boundaries for fun. The duo were involved in a 93-run stand for the sixth wicket which took India closer to South Africa's total.

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South Africa came back into the match picking up the wickets of Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav on consecutive deliveries in the 38th over. With 30 needed off the last over, Sanju Samson brought India mighty close to a win but missed a boundary on the fourth ball which sealed the win for his team. South Africa won the match by nine runs and took a 1-0 lead in the series. Here's how Twitter reacted to the action-packed first ODI:

Ruturaj ko bas peli jersey pehnao aur wahi pe khilao
What a Test match innings 👏👏#indvssa #Dhoni @ChennaiIPL

— Prakhar Patwardhan 🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@Pprakhar27) October 6, 2022

Fielding was so poor today. We've dropped atleast 5-6 catches. Missed few runouts. #IndvsSAodi #IndvSA #INDvsSA

— Atul Tiwari (@iTiwariAtul) October 6, 2022

Sanju backing Avesh to bat is the level of confidence I want someone to have in me 😂 #IndvsSA

— stoic boi (@nishhhhit) October 6, 2022

If the top 3-4 had given some help then we would have won this match. But very well done by Iyer and Sanju to drag the game this far. A mature innings by Sanju, again shutting up his haters. #INDvsSA

— Rikken. (@PatelRikken) October 6, 2022

South Africa won by just Nine Runs
A great knock by Sanju Samson he tried his best to win this for India Ngidi's over was the turning point of the match#INDvsSA

— Azalfa Qureshi (@AzalfaQ) October 6, 2022

Well played Chetta @IamSanjuSamson 👏👏
9 runs is a small margin, could have easily won if there were not many dot balls earlier. #INDvsSA

— Hareesh Konanki (@imHareeshK) October 6, 2022

Ishan kishan and ruturaj gaikwad should themselves leave the team and play more domestic before they display such ridiculous batting anymore #ishankishan #ruturajgaikwad #INDvSA #INDvsSA

— Sachin (@sachii656) October 6, 2022

Sanju Samson reminded of Chak de India scene when Shahrukh doesn't congratulate a player even after scoring and winning the match.#INDvsSA

— Rishabh Jain (@rishabhjain1989) October 6, 2022