Arshdeep Singh is India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is, and the 26-year-old left-arm pacer from Punjab is leading India’s bowling attack in the ongoing first T20I against South Africa as well in Cuttack.
In the match taking place at Barabati Stadium, Arshdeep opened his wicket account by dismissing South African wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock for a duck on the second ball of the run chase. He followed it up by taking Tristan Stubbs’s wicket. Stubbs was caught behind by Jitesh Sharma on the third ball of the third over of South Africa’s innings.
The two wickets by Arshdeep in the powerplay on Tuesday helped him equal Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s tally of most wickets for India in the powerplay overs of T20Is. Bhuvneshwar, who hasn’t played for India since November 2022, has dismissed 47 batters so far in the powerplay overs, and Arshdeep now also has 47 wickets to his credit in the first six overs of innings in the 20-over format of the game.
Most wickets in Overs 1-6 for India in T20Is
- 47 – Arshdeep Singh
- 47 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar
- 33 – Jasprit Bumrah
- 21 – Axar Patel
- 21 – Washington Sundar
India win by 101 runs
India beat South Africa by 101 runs in the first T20I match played on Tuesday in Cuttack. India, after being invited to bat first, posted a total of 175/6 in 20 overs and then bowled the visitors out for just 74 runs in 12.3 overs. In his first match since September 26, 2025, Hardik slammed 59 runs from just 28 balls as a No. 6 batter for the Indian team and then picked up one wicket as well – that too on the first ball of his spell.
Apart from Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy picked up two wickets each, and the last South African batter was sent back to the pavilion by Shivam Dube.
The score of 74 by South Africa on Tuesday is their lowest T20I total against India.
The second T20I match of the ongoing series will be played on Thursday (December 11) in Mullanpur, and the next three matches are scheduled in Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17) and Ahmedabad (December 19).
