Catch up with all the action from South Africa vs India in the T20 Cricket World Cup
South Africa laid down a major marker in the Super 8s stage of the T20 World Cup with a 76-run win over defending champions India.
In a rematch of the 2024 final in Barbados, which India edged by seven runs, the Proteas produced a far more convincing display this time around in Ahmedabad.
Recovering brilliantly from a disastrous start, they posted 187-7 before bowling India out for just 111 in a surprisingly one-sided contest.
South Africa’s innings had looked in serious trouble early on. Captain Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton all fell for single-figure scores inside the powerplay, leaving the side reeling at 20-3 after four overs.
David Miller struck a superb 65 from 35 balls while Brevis added 45 from 29 deliveries. Brevis fell five runs short of a half-century, but Miller powered on, reaching his fifty in just 26 balls and ensuring South Africa regained control of the match.
After Miller departed with the score 152-5 in the 16th over, India briefly clawed things back through tidy death bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh. However, Tristan Stubbs provided a late surge, smashing an unbeaten 44 and taking 20 runs from Hardik Pandya’s final over to lift South Africa to a formidable 187-7.
Markram’s side then carried that momentum into the field. The captain removed Ishan Kishan for a duck in the opening over and Marco Jansen struck soon after to dismiss Tilak Varma, immediately putting India on the back foot. Although Abhishek Sharma avoided a third consecutive duck, he made only 15 before Jansen struck again.
India never recovered from the early collapse. By the halfway stage of the chase they were 51-5, and captain Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal effectively ended resistance.
Spinner Keshav Maharaj ripped through the middle order with three wickets in the 15th over, while Jansen returned to clean up the tail and finish with outstanding figures of 4-22 as India were bowled out for 111.
After the match, Markram praised both the bowlers and the crucial partnership that rescued the innings.
“Great performance. We’re pumped for the bowling crew, they’ve been working hard,” he said. “The partnership between Miller and Brevis steadied the ship and kept us in the game. We looked at where we could run hard and our batting in the middle was the difference.”
India captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted his side had effectively lost the game during the powerplay. “You can’t win the game in the powerplay, but you can lose it. We lost too many wickets in the powerplay,” he said.
