The road to the 2026 T20 World Cup began on a resounding note for India. On what was not an easy pitch to bat on at the Barabati Stadium, when Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten 59 carried India to 175/6, there was intrigue as to how the surface would play in the second innings. Pandya’s knock, where he went at 210.71, seemed like an aberration. Yet with dew settling in, one couldn’t be sure if batting was going to get easier on a strip that was two-paced from the word go due to the dampness. The answers arrived very soon as India’s attack showed 175 was too big a total to overhaul, as South Africa were skittled out for 74 in reply – their lowest ever T20I score – thus giving the hosts an emphatic 101 run victory.
On the match eve, the re-laid square at the Barabati Stadium had caused interest in both camps. A venue where black soil pitches were the norm, after the ODI against England earlier this year, the square was re-laid with red soil pitches. When it was mentioned to India captain Suryakumar Yadav at the pre-match press conference, he seemed surprised, but he thought it would be a “good thing” in reflection. The reasons were simple. Apart from providing bounce, the ball tends to come fast at the batters, helping them with bat swing.
Two-paced pitch
However, it was anything but that. From the first ball, when a short delivery from Lungi Ngidi climbed two-paced and caught Abhishek Sharma off-guard, it was evident that this track was to offer this Indian team a good challenge. All of their home wins under Suryakumar and coach Gautam Gambhir have come on batting-friendly pitches. But come the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled during the season end in February-March, the pitches may not completely favour the batters. So the track on Tuesday proved to be a good test to check how this batting line-up could cope when given such conditions.
5⃣9⃣* with the bat 😎
1⃣/1⃣6⃣ with the ball 🙌For his impactful all-round show, Hardik Pandya is the Player of the Match 🏆
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/tiemfwcNPh #TeamIndia | #INDvSA | @hardikpandya7 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/4h9qRD2T3L
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 9, 2025
And barring Pandya, and a couple of handy cameos from Shivam Dube and Jitesh Sharma, the rest clearly struggled. The trick to excelling on such surfaces lies in how quickly you read the conditions. With regards to India’s top five, each of them appeared surprised. The hard length, in particular, proved to be their biggest undoing, particularly when they tried to hit in front of square. Playing straight is also fraught with risk, especially if the ball stops off the surface. But between the two, it seemed the safest option, or if you intended to play the horizontal shots, you had to use it against the raw pace of Anrich Nortje or to deliveries that were absolutely short, which Pandya did to perfection.
Early trouble for India
It was Lungi Ngidi who exposed the Indian batters chinks on this surface. In the first over, after being hit for a boundary to a wide delivery by Shubman Gill, he immediately pulled the length back. The surface did the rest as the opener was through the short early, and Gill lobbed an easy offering for the mid-on fielder. Suryakumar arrived and hit a boundary and a dismissive six – the pick-up flick, but like Gill was undone by the one that held off the surface.
That the usually free-flowing Abhishek struggled for rhythm said as much about the surface as Ngidi and March Jansen ensured India had only 40 to show in the powerplay as the two seamers bowled three overs each to tighten the start. As Pandya showed during his unbeaten 59 off 28, it wasn’t impossible to increase the tempo. The secret lay in picking the deliveries and shots and the pockets he picked – front in the V and behind square. It was something the rest failed at.
An emphatic win in the #INDvSA T20I series opener 🥳#TeamIndia register a 1⃣0⃣1⃣-run victory in Cuttack to go 1⃣-0⃣ up 🙌
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/tiemfwcNPh@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/mw3oxC5AHw
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 9, 2025
Bowlers’ day out
With the ball, India were not as generous as South Africa. With the dew not causing much of an impact on how it behaved, Arshdee Singh struck early. His spells with the new-ball, especially if he finds movement, are hard to get past without damage, and here he removed Quinton de Kock off the second ball and Tristan Stubbs in his second over. Axar came in and had castled Aiden Markram with one that skidded on with the angle, and when Pandya struck off his first delivery, getting David Miller nicked to the wicketkeeper, India were all over the Proteas.
Spinners doing the trick 🪄
Axar Patel 🤝 Varun Chakaravarthy #TeamIndia chipping away at the wickets in Cuttack 🔢
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/tiemfwcNPh #INDvSA | @akshar2026 | @chakaravarthy29 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/Hjg7nUKCDV
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 9, 2025
Then it was the turn of Varun Chakaravarthy to leave a mark. Having come into the series on the back of some below-par performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, he started the night by conceding 12 runs in the first over he delivered in the powerplay, with Dewald Brevis taking him for a boundary and a six. But with a new set of batters in, he landed two successive blows, first removing Donovan Ferreira and then sending Jansen back with a googly. With two of their power-hitters gone, and Brevis too departed, becoming Jasprit Bumrah’s 100th T20I victim. Dube then ended South Africa’s suffering with 45 deliveries to spare.
On a night where batters from both teams struggled, Pandya’s unbeaten 59 happened to be the difference.