NEW DELHI: India opener Abhishek Sharma was left frustrated by Marco Jansen's superb effort in the field, as the South African all-rounder pulled off a spectacular catch at deep fine leg during the first T20I in Cuttack on Tuesday.

South Africa pacer Lutho Sipamla sent down a slower-length ball on leg stump, and Abhishek shuffled across, trying to guide it fine for a boundary. But with no pace on the delivery, the ball hung in the air and drifted towards fine leg.

Jansen sprinted a long way to his left and flung himself forward to complete a stunning catch. Abhishek could only walk back, disbelief written all over his face as India were reduced to 48/3 in 6.3 overs.

Earlier, South Africa skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to bowl in the first match of the five-match series. Markram said he elected to bowl with the dew factor in mind.

For India, T20 vice-captain Shubman Gill and all-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to the eleven, having missed some of the recent action with respective injuries.

Teams:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (captain), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donnovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.