inaugural T20I of India versus South Africa The series witnessed a moment of pure bowling brilliance at the Barabati Stadium Akshar Patel South African captain out aiden markram With great delivery. Getting dismissed on the very first ball of the sixth over became a highlight of India’s spectacular victory.
Akshar Patel showed the beauty of uprooting Aiden Markram’s stump.
South Africa, chasing India’s competitive total, were trying to rebuild their innings when Markram took strike against Axar. What happened next was a textbook example of left-handed precision and subtle variation. Akshar bowled a flat length ball, targeting middle and leg, leaving almost no room for the batsman to manoeuvre. Instead of turning, the ball slipped deceptively to Markram, who applied backward pressure in an attempt to take it down the leg side.
But the South African captain misjudged the line and pace. After being beaten on the inside edge, Markram watched in disbelief as the ball straightened enough to clip the leg stump, causing it to go cartwheeling. Akshar’s celebration reflected the importance of the success, while the crowd applauded the perfectly executed delivery.
Here is the video:
Spinners are doing tricks🪄
Akshar Patel 🤝 Varun Chakraborty #TeamIndia Sparring on the wickets in Cuttack 🔢
Update ▶️ https://t.co/tiemfwcNPh #INDvSA , @akshar2026 , @Chakaravarthy29 , @IDFCFIRSTBANK pic.twitter.com/Hjg7nUKCDV
– BCCI (@BCCI) 9 December 2025
Also read: Fans go wild as Hardik Pandya leads India to emphatic win over South Africa in first T20I
Hardik Pandya led India to victory
India started the five-match T20 series with a great performance hardik pandyaExplosive innings to regain control after a poor start on a challenging surface. While most of the batsmen struggled to find rhythm, Pandya’s counter-attacking innings transformed India’s total from a potentially low-scoring one to a highly competitive one.
The momentum they generated carried over to the bowling effort, where India’s attack quickly dismantled the South African top order. quinton de kockTristan StubbsMarkram and David Miller before the visitors could build any foundation. dewald brevis Tried to chase down the target with a composed effort under constant pressure, but as wickets fell and the asking rate increased, South Africa never recovered and were eventually bowled out for just 74 runs.