India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav (second right) walks off the field as South Africa’s players celebrate his dismissal.
Ahmedabad: South Africa ended India’s 12-match winning streak at the T20 World Cup with a crushing 76-run win in Ahmedabad yesterday in the opening Group 1 Super Eights match.
After a counter-attacking 63 by David Miller and some late hitting from Tristan Stubbs took South Africa to 187-7, the defending champions were all out for 111 in 18.5 overs, failing badly in their first chase of the tournament.
Left-arm quick Marco Jansen finished with 4-22, while left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj took 3-24 as the South African bowlers exposed India’s fragile batting line-up.
“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.
“We’re really pumped for the bowling group. They’ve been working hard, started the comp a bit tough, but the way they rocked up tonight was a great effort.”
The magnitude of the defeat means India will take a poor net run rate forward and that could prove pivotal if their Super Eights group is tight.
Hot favourites to defend their crown on home soil, India will likely need to win their two remaining Super Eight games against Zimbabwe and the West Indies to have a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Both teams were unbeaten in the group phase and the game was a rematch of the 2024 T20 World Cup final in Barbados, which India won.
India’s unbeaten run in the tournament had stretched back to their defeat in the semi-final against eventual winners England in 2022.
England rout Sri Lanka for 95 to win Super Eights opener
Elsewhere, in Kandy, England routed hosts Sri Lanka for 95 to give captain Harry Brook a perfect birthday present as they opened the T20 World Cup Super Eights phase with a resounding 51-run win. After England were asked to bat first and scored what looked like a below-par 146-9, Jofra Archer and Will Jacks took five wickets during the six-over power play to leave Sri Lanka’s top order in tatters at 34-5.
“That’s a beautiful birthday present,” said Brook, who turned 27 on Sunday.
“I thought we played exceptionally there. To get over the line and bowl them out for less than 100 is an awesome effort.
“I didn’t think there were really any demons on the pitch. I think the spinners on both sides used the pace really well, and that’s what brought a lot of wickets.”
It was England’s 12th win in a row against Sri Lanka and on a pitch that was sticky and slow after rain all week in Kandy.
The margin of victory gives them a healthy net run rate advantage in a Super Eights group that could be further affected by weather, after the New Zealand-Pakistan match was washed out on Saturday in Colombo.
BRIEF SCORES
South Africa 187 for 7 (Miller 63, Brevis 45, Bumrah 3-15) beat India 111 (Dube 42, Jansen 4-22, Maharaj 3-24) by 76 runs
England 146 for 9 (Salt 62, Wellalage 3-26) beat Sri Lanka 95 (Shanaka 30, Jacks 3-22) by 51 run
