South Africa have upended the tournament favorites India in Ahmedabad, as they cruised their way to a resounding 76-run victory.
Aiden Markram opted to bat in this much-awaited contest, which was billed as a possible dress rehearsal for the final. It was a horror start for the men in green and gold, as Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh knocked out the top 3 for single digits.
However, that was no deterrent for Dewald Brevis and David Miller. The left-right combo proved pivotal for the South Africans, as they counterattacked brilliantly in the rest of the first half of the innings. They took a particular liking to Varun Chakaravarthy, who has often been India’s trump card for middle-overs wickets.
The duo added 97 runs between them. But Shivam Dube was the golden arm, as Brevis holed out after a few big hits.
At that point, 200 looked reachable, but Chakaravarthy taking the wicket of Miller with 4 overs to go would scupper the momentum for SA.
Arshdeep and Bumrah returned to give only 15 runs in the next 3 overs as well as dismiss Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch, but Hardik Pandya’s final over went for 20. Tristan Stubbs finished unbeaten on 44 from 24, but Miller took the cake with his 35-ball 63.
The game appeared to be in the balance at halftime, but the Proteas bowlers would script an unbelievable domination right from the get-go.
Aiden Markram bowled himself as the negative matchup for the all-left handed opening duo of Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma. After three dots, Kishan moonballed it to Ryan Rickelton at extra cover, and that would set the tone for how much of the chase would go.
Tilak Varma was the next to go, as he nicked off in the second over. And Abhishek’s chancy stay also came to an end when he skied one to midwicket, giving Jansen a second wicket.
Thereafter, none of the Indian batters could get going, thanks to Lungi Ngidi’s tremendous spell with multiple slower deliveries. In spite of not getting any wickets, he’d only concede 15 across his 4 overs.
Many of the catches were soft dismissals, and Keshav Maharaj taking 3 wickets in the 15th over hastened the end of the game.
Shivam Dube stuck around and made 42, but that only put off the inevitable for a tad longer. India were handed a shocker of a defeat to kick off the Super 8’s, and after licking their wounds, the focus will now shift to the remaining two games. Their unbeaten streak has come to a screeching halt. But in spite of a horror start, two wins will very likely be enough to make the semifinals.
The Proteas, on the other hand, have a spring in their step after today’s NRR-boosting win. Effectively, another win should take them to the semis.
Tune in to the next game against the Windies at the same venue on Thursday.
SA 187/7 in 20 overs (Miller 63, Brevis 45, Stubbs 44* – Bumrah 4-0-15-3, Arshdeep 4-0-28-2)
IND 111 all out in 18.5 overs (Dube 42 – Jansen 3.5-0-22-4, Maharaj 3-0-24-3, Bosch 3-0-12-2)