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Suryakumar Yadav takes a breather aft getting deed by a transportation from South Africa's Lungi Ngidi during the T20 World Cup cricket lucifer betwixt India and South Africa successful Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, Feb 22, 2026. (AP Photo)
TimesofIndia.com successful Ahmedabad: The archetypal crippled of their Super 8 run was a world cheque for the Indian cricket squad arsenic they were wholly outplayed by South Africa astatine the Narendra Modi Stadium successful Ahmedabad.
Chasing the 188-run target, the famed batting line-up ne'er got going and succumbed to the big-game unit successful beforehand of implicit 90,000 people. The run-chase lacked application, intent, and discipline. Whatever could spell wrong, went incorrect for Suryakumar Yadav & Co arsenic they mislaid the fixture by a dense 76-run margin.Questionable changeable selection, a deficiency of partnerships, and immoderate good bowling by South Africa led to the hosts' downfall, ending their unbeaten 12-match streak successful T20I World Cups.
For a broadside that had dominated the format since winning the rubric successful the Caribbean successful 2024, Sunday's showing, peculiarly the batting, was thing abbreviated of an embarrassment. The team, which effortlessly posted immense scores and breezed past monolithic totals, managed lone 57 astatine the half-way people of the run-chase and had fractional their broadside cooling their heels successful the dugout.Concerning signs were evident successful the radical signifier too, but the bowlers continued to find a mode and bash the job.
However, the cracks were wholly exposed erstwhile they were asked to chase. The unit of the large signifier intelligibly overwhelmed the batting arsenic Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma played immoderate precise mean shots. Abhishek sighed with alleviation erstwhile helium scored his archetypal tally of the tournament, courtesy of a boundary, but helium ne'er looked astatine easiness during his enactment successful the middle.
The left-hander looked precise abbreviated connected confidence, and truthful did India's designated No.3 Tilak Varma.Tilak has been scrutinised for his mediocre onslaught rate, and portion helium has enjoyed the backing of the men who matter, his performances aren't inspiring overmuch confidence. India tried to shingle things up by promoting Washington Sundar up the bid but adjacent that backfired, conscionable similar his wide enactment for this crippled up of the experienced Axar Patel. India's vice-captain was connected the seat for the 2nd lucifer successful a row, and his lack was dearly felt with some bat and ball.Shivam Dube fought a lone conflict to get the side's full person to the people and minimise nett run-rate harm but penning was intelligibly connected the wall, leaving lone specified formalities earlier South Africa sealed the broad win. Marco Jansen & Co. combined to wholly predominate the hosts and their astute usage of the pitch, and conditions, helped them marque a statement.
Bumrah and the rest
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh combined to support the Proteas nether the 200-run mark.
The innings tin beryllium divided into 3 phases. India dominated the powerplay, taking 3 wickets. South Africa rebuilt with David Miller and Dewald Brevis, but India seized power again betwixt overs 16 and 19. In 4 overs, the Aiden Markram-led portion scored 23 runs and mislaid 3 wickets, undoing the middle-phase efforts of Miller and Brevis. They besides mislaid the aforesaid fig of wickets successful the powerplay but had a program for the rotation menace that was coming their way.
The left-right operation targeted Varun Chakravarthy and ne'er allowed India's X-factor to settee down connected a transportation that offered small for spin. The archetypal 2 overs of the World No.1 T20I bowler leaked 28 runs and Miller looked unsafe successful beforehand of the capableness crowd. From the infinitesimal helium walked retired to bat successful the 4th over, the left-hander operated with calculated intent. He deed the shot wherever it was meant to beryllium deed and didn't retreat aft the aboriginal wickets.
The beingness of a engaged Brevis astatine the different extremity gave the innings the much-needed impetus, and the 2 enactment connected a breezy 97-run basal disconnected conscionable 50 deliveries.When they were batting, a full of 200+ seemed precise achievable, but India did good to propulsion things backmost successful the last phase. Bumrah was successful the temper contiguous and astatine his menacing champion successful some the powerplay and the decease overs. His past 2 overs conceded lone 8 runs and different wicket added to his lucifer tally made him India's astir palmy bowler successful T20I World Cup history. Arshdeep sustained unit from the different extremity with conscionable a 7-run 18th implicit but the 20th over, bowled by Hardik, swayed momentum successful South Africa's favour. Tristian Stubbs deed backmost to backmost sixes disconnected the last 2 deliveries to extremity the innings emphatically astatine 187/7. T20I cricket is each astir riding the momentum erstwhile it is connected your side. South Africa did that with the bat successful the last implicit and past the bowlers aboriginal rode connected it to outplay India successful their archetypal Super 8 clash.
