84 du Plessis with injury, 50 from Kohli, Bengaluru raised 174 against Punjab.
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| Both Kohli and Duplessy scored fifties |
Kohli, who won the toss and elected to bat first, led from the front as he scored a fluent 67 off just 44 balls. The Indian captain was aggressive from the outset and played some breathtaking shots all around the ground. He shared a 103-run partnership for the second wicket with opener Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a valuable 45 off 38 balls.
Kohli's innings was laced with 9 fours and a six and he was finally dismissed in the 16th over, caught at long-on off the bowling of South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. His dismissal, however, did not affect the Indian innings much as they went on to post a challenging total of 176 for 5 in their allotted 20 overs.
In response, South Africa got off to a shaky start, losing opener Reeza Hendricks for just 8 runs in the third over. However, de Kock and David Miller steadied the ship with a 68-run partnership for the second wicket. De Kock was particularly impressive as he scored a quickfire 54 off just 35 balls, studded with 6 fours and 2 sixes.
The South African captain's innings was ended by a brilliant piece of fielding from Kohli, who ran him out with a direct hit from mid-off. Despite de Kock's departure, South Africa kept fighting and were in with a chance until the final over of the match.
In the end, however, India held their nerve to win the match by 9 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Kohli was adjudged the man of the match for his brilliant innings and his outstanding fielding effort that resulted in the run-out of de Kock.
Both Kohli and de Kock's fifties proved to be crucial in the context of the match, as they provided the backbone for their respective teams' innings. It was a great display of batting by two of the best batsmen in world cricket and fans can look forward to more such performances from them in the future.