Perth: The star-studded Indian batting line-up came a cropper against the South African fast bowlers at the pacy and bouncy pitch at Perth Stadium here on Sunday.
Only Suryakumar Yadav stood out, with a 40-ball 68 which included 6 fours and 3 sixes, as he helped Team India creep up to 133/9 in the crucial T20 World Cup Super 12 Group 2 fixture.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and, surprisingly, opted to bat first. He and KL Rahul hit a six each before succumbing to the accurately aggressive Lungi Ngidi.
Virat Kohli’s run of big scores was also ended by Ngidi, who went on to dismiss Hardik Pandya to finish with 4/29 in 4 overs.
Dinesh Karthik gave Surya some support in a recovery act from 49/5, but the wicketkeer-batsman’s share in a 52-run partnership was just 6 off 15 balls.
Deepak Hooda, brought into the playing XI in place of Axar Patel, was all at sea and fell for a duck.
