David Miller and Aiden Makram scored fighting half-centuries to guide South Africa to a thrilling 5-wicket win over India in the Group 2 clash of the T20 World Cup at the Perth Stadium. The two teams played a high-octane clash on Sunday as it went to the final over where Miller hit the winning runs for the Proteas on the fourth ball as they moved to the top spot in Group 2.
Chasing a below-par 134-run target courtesy of Lungi Ngidi’s four-fer, Miller (59*) and Markram (52) shared a crucial 76-run stand for the fifth wicket to revive South Africa’s innings as they lost the top-order early courtesy of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammad Shami.
T20 World Cup 2022: Full Coverage | Schedule | Results | Points Table | Gallery
Apart from Shami, India lacked the bowlers who click 140kph at regular intervals on the bouncy Perth surface, although they troubled the opposition batters with their swing.
Arshdeep got a wicket on his first ball of the match as he shaped the ball away from De Kock who edged it behind the stumps to KL Rahul at slip. The South Africa opener has been in great form with the bat in this tournament but it wasn’t his day against India.
The left-arm pacer didn’t stop there as he dismissed centurion from the last match Rilee Rossouw in the same over. This time, he got the ball in for the batter to trap him in front of the wicket. The on-field umpire gave it not out but skipper Rohit Sharma backed his bowler and took the review which worked in India’s favour as Rossouw was dismissed for a duck.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma also failed to score big as his rough patch with the bat continues. Shami dismissed him for 10.
Miller and Markram took their time and batted cautiously during the tough phase to construct their partnership. Miller smashed 3 sixes and 4 fours during his 46-ball stay. While Markram hit 6 fours and a six before he was dismissed by Hardik Pandya. India had a few chances to dismiss the duo but they blew their chances with lacklustre fielding.
India vs South Africa Match highlights T20 World Cup 2022
However, the result of India vs South Africa match has now affected Pakistan’s chance to qualify for the semifinals.
Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav produced his most accomplished knock in extremely adverse conditions but India only managed a sub-par 133 for 9. On a track where good technique and steely temperament was needed, Surya added another component to it – swagger.
Lungi Ngidi dismissed India’s top 3 KL Rahul (9), Rohit Sharma (15) and Virat Kohli (12) early to put pressure on them. However, Surya kept his calm in tough conditions and found gaps with his ability to hit 360 degrees.
India lost half of their side for just 49 runs against the Proteas after Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first. Suryakumar shared a 52-run stand for the sixth with Dinesh Karthik to revive the Indian innings. Surya’s knock was laced with 6 fours and three sixes.
Ngidi ended up claiming four wickets, while Wayne Parnell also picked three to restrict India to a below-par score.
Get the latest Cricket News, Schedule and Cricket Live Scores here