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India National Cricket Team vs South Africa National Cricket Team Match Scorecard: Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya marked his stellar return to international Cricket, scoring a magnificent half-century down the order. His innings of 59 off 28 balls featured 6 fours and 4 sixes as he 'clutched' his way on a wicket which was difficult to bat on. With these sixes in his innings, Hardik joined an elite list of Indian batters who completed 100 sixes in the T20I format.

Notably, India were struggling after losing a flurry of wickets in the innings, however, Hardik's counterattack was too much to take for the South African bowlers. India finished on 175 for 6 due to the onslaught from the fast-bowling all-rounder.

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Hardik's tally of T20I sixes reached 100 as he joined senior batters Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli. Rohit sits on top with 205, shortly followed by Suryakumar Yadav with 155 and Virat Kohli with 124. Pandya is now fourth, ahead of KL Rahul, who has 99 sixes.

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India's total of 175 was more than enough, as the bowlers put on a strong performance to win by 101 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, and Axar Patel each took two wickets, while Pandya also helped by taking 1 for 16 in two overs. Shivam Dube finished the innings by getting the last batter, Lutho Sipamla, which secured a decisive win for the hosts.

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India will look to carry this momentum forward as the series progresses, with Pandya once again proving his value as a genuine match-winner with both bat and ball.

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