South Africa’s bowlers delivered a masterclass to hand defending champions a crushing 76-run defeat.
The fortress crumbled. India’s seemingly unstoppable 12-match winning streak at the T20 World Cup came to a shuddering halt on Sunday night as South Africa produced a clinical performance to claim a statement 76-run victory in Ahmedabad’s opening Group 1 Super Eights clash.
In front of 82,000 stunned fans at the cavernous stadium, the Proteas dismantled the defending champions with ruthless efficiency, bowling them out for a paltry 111 in 18.5 overs, India’s first chase of the tournament ending in abject failure.
The South African attack was relentless. Left-arm quick Marco Jansen ripped through the Indian batting line-up with figures of 4-22, whilst spinner Keshav Maharaj strangled the middle order, claiming 3-24 to expose the hosts’ fragile batting credentials.
“Great performance. Very different type of wicket to what we’ve had here, so great to see the boys assess that pretty early and adapt their skills to execute their plans,” said South Africa captain Aiden Markram, clearly delighted with his side’s bowling effort.
After winning the toss and batting first, South Africa stumbled early, slipping to 20/3 before David Miller’s counter-attacking 63 steadied the ship. Miller combined with Dewald Brevis (45) for a crucial 97-run partnership that transformed South Africa’s innings.
Tristan Stubbs provided the late fireworks, launching an unbeaten 44* (24), including two monstrous sixes off the final two deliveries from Hardik Pandya to propel the Proteas to 187/7. Jasprit Bumrah was India’s best bowler with 3-15, but his efforts proved insufficient.
The Indian chase never got going. Captain Markram opened the bowling with his off-spin and immediately struck gold, dismissing Ishan Kishan. Jansen then tore through the top order, removing Tilak Varma (1) and Abhishek Sharma (15) to leave India reeling.
“We lost too many wickets in the power play,” admitted India captain Suryakumar Yadav. “Sometimes you’ve got to think, if you’re chasing 180-185, you can’t win the game in the power play, but you might lose it.”
When Corbin Bosch dismissed Washington Sundar and Suryakumar to reduce India to 51/5, the writing was on the wall. Maharaj then delivered the knockout blow with a devastating over that claimed Hardik Pandya (18), Rinku Singh (0) and Arshdeep Singh (1).
Shivam Dube’s defiant 42 provided brief resistance, but when Jansen had him caught and dismissed Bumrah next ball, India’s unbeaten run, stretching back to their 2022 semi-final defeat against England, was emphatically over.
The crushing defeat leaves India with a poor net run rate that could prove pivotal in a tight Super Eights group. The hot favourites to defend their crown on home soil will likely need victories against Zimbabwe and the West Indies to secure semi-final qualification.
For South Africa, this was the perfect riposte to their 2024 T20 World Cup final defeat to these same opponents in Barbados.
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