Lucknow ODI: South Africa beat India by 9 runs

In cricket, Sanju Samson slammed an unbeaten 86 but India went down fighting against South Africa in the first ODI at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday night. Chasing a target of 250, India lost two early wickets as both Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill were dismissed inside the first powerplay. Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad too failed to impress. Shreyas Iyer showed a lot of intent, smashing a 33-ball 50, before perishing soon after. Samson struggled to get going initially, but picked up the pace after reaching the 50-run mark. Earlier, unbeaten fifties from David Miller (75) and Heinrich Klaasen (74) helped South Africa post 249 for 4 in the stipulated 40 overs. The match has been curtailed to 40 overs-a-side due to rain. India skipper Shikhar Dhawan had won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Things went right down to the wire but it's South Africa who win the first #INDvSA ODI.#TeamIndia will look to bounce back in the second ODI.

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/d65WZUUDh2 pic.twitter.com/RUcF80h2Xv

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 6, 2022

In the company of Shreyas Iyer, Samson began his innings and provided some stability to India's score as they pulled off a valiant 67-run stand before the former departed shortly after scoring his half-century. Samson then opened up alongside Shardul Thakur, who had a good day with the bat and with the ball. After picking two wickets for 35 in eight overs, Thakur smashed five boundaries in his 31-ball 33 while Samson too began notching up boundaries and sixes. But the target was always too far for India and despite Samson's best ever effort in ODIs - a 63-ball unbeaten 86 - India lost by nine runs in the series opener.