India, Dec. 9 -- Hardik Pandya saved India the blushes in the first T20I against South Africa at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday as he hit an unbeaten 59 runs off 28 balls to help the hosts post 175/6 in the allotted twenty overs. India were reeling at one stage after being asked to bat first as Shubman Gill (4), Suryakumar Yadav (12), Abhishek Sharma (17) and Tilak Varma (26) all departed to the hut cheaply. At one stage, it seemed that India wouldn't even pass the 150-run mark, but Hardik came as a messiah as he put on quite a show in front of the jam-packed crowd.

The all-rounder, who was making his India return after spending almost three months on the sidelines due to an injury, hit 6 fours and 4 sixes in his knock as he ...