Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya made a sparkling comeback from injury, completing his fifty off only 25 deliveries in the opening T20I against South Africa at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. The seam-bowling all-rounder sliced Anrich Nortje for a stunning six over third-man region to get to the landmark.Pandya sustained a left quadricep injury before the Asia Cup 2025 final and was ruled out of the big fixture against Pakistan. Subsequently, he misssed the tour of Australia, followed by the ODI leg against the Proteas. But Pandya looked in form from ball one in Cuttack and reached his fifty in the 20th over by slicing Norje's short and wide delivery over third man.Here's the video of Pandya's stunning shot:The 32-year-old also became the fourth Indian cricketer after Rohit Sharma (205), Suryakumar Yadav (172) and Virat Kohli (124) to hit 100 sixes in T20I cricket.Arshdeep Singh strikes in the first over after Hardik Pandya's heroics with the batArshdeep Singh celebrates a wicket. (Credits: BCCI X)Meanwhile, Team India's new-ball bowler Arshdeep Singh gave his side the breakthrough in the opening over of the chase, getting Quinton de Kock to nick it to Abhishek Sharma at second slip. At the time of writing, Arshdeep had dealt South Africa with another blow as he dismissed Tristan Stubbs for 10 in his second over, as the Proteas struggled to get their 176-run chase going smoothly.Earlier, it was South African captain Aiden Markram, who had won the toss and sent the Men in Blue into bat seemingly due to the dew factor. India got off to a poor start, losing their top three of Abhishek Sharma (17), Shubman Gill (4) and Suryakumar Yadav (12) cheaply. While Pandya was the star of the show with an unbeaten 58 off 29 deliveries, Shivam Dube (23) and Tilak Varma (26) also chipped in with crucial contributions.