Ahmedabad: Team India were no match for South Africa in their opening T20 World Cup Super Eights clash on Sunday night, going down by 76 runs.
It snapped a 12-match winning run in T20 World Cups for India, who had emerged unbeaten champions in the 2024 edition in the Caribbean and USA, and also won the first four games in the ongoing edition.
The big defeat, India’s second largest in terms of runs and heaviest in T20 World Cup history, wasn’t good in terms of net run rate (NRR), which could come into play for semifinal qualification in case of a tie on points.
India will have to beat Zimbabwe at Chennai on February 26 to revive their campaign, and then hope for another positive result against former champions West Indies on March 1 at Eden Gardens to stay on course for a crack at retaining the trophy.
The evening started on a great note as Jasprit Bumrah (3/15) and Arshdeep Singh (2/28) reduced South Africa to 20/3 in 4 overs. But a rollicking partnership of 97 runs between Dewald Brevis (45 off 29 balls, 3×4, 3×6) and Man-of-the-Match David Miller (63 off 35, 7×4, 3×6) pushed India to the back foot.
And even though the bowlers pulled it back for the men in blue, a late flourish by Tristan Stubbs – 44 not out in 24 balls – carried Proteas to a challenging 187/7.
India were rocked in the very first over, this time Ishan Kishan falling for a duck. Abhishek Sharma finally got off the mark after three consecutive ducks but couldn’t do any significant damage. Marco Jansen accounted for left-handers Abhishek (15) and Tilak Varma (1) as India were left tottering at 26/3.
It kept getting worse as Washington Sundar (11) and Suryakumar Yadav failed to come to terms with the pace of the pitch. Shivam top-scored with 42 as India folded up for 111.
BRIEF SCORES
South Africa 187/7 in 20 overs (David Miller 63, Dewald Brevis 45, Tristan Stubbs 44*; Jasprit Bumrah 3/15, Arshdeep Singh 2/28).
India 111 in 18.5 overs (Shivam Dube 42; Marco Jansen 4/22, Keshav Maharaj 3/24, Corbin Bosch 2/12).
Result: SA beat India by 76 runs.
Player of the Match: David Miller
Next match: India vs Zimbabwe (February 26).
