T20 World Cup: South Africa’s pace show, India’s missed chances and other talking points

Oct 31, 2022 - 08:00

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T20 World Cup: South Africa’s pace show, India’s missed chances and other talking points

After beating defending champions and tournament hosts Australia in the warm-ups and getting their Super 12s campaign off to a perfect start with back-to-back wins, Team India stuttered for the first time in the T20 World Cup Down Under with a five-wicket loss against South Africa in Perth on Sunday.

South Africa was always going to be a stern test for the Men in Blue in their quest to finish on top of Group 2 and qualify for the knockouts, given the manner in which the Proteas had been firing heading into this clash and the areas of concern that were evident with the Indian team despite their wins.

In the end, the South Africans lived up to their billing of being one of the strongest contenders for the title with their performance on Sunday, their seam attack destroying the Indian batting lineup and their middle-order rescuing the side from a shaky start.

Read: Rahul’s selection despite repeated failures still a mystery as bowling takes a hit

With this result, South Africa remain the only unbeaten team in the tournament alongside New Zealand, the two sides remaining on top of their respective groups with the Proteas going past the Men in Blue after the latest result.

India, on the other hand, were served another reminder of the areas that they need to work heading into the remaining group fixtures and will perhaps take solace from the fact that the defeat came during the group stage and not in the knockouts.

Meanwhile, India’s defeat also comes as a body blow to Pakistan’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals; besides beating South Africa and Bangladesh, the Men in Green will now have to hope India lose one of their remaining games, or both.

Read: Twitter reacts as Team India’s loss troubles Pakistan

Looking back at the events of the highly-anticipated encounter at the fast bowler’s paradise that is the Perth Stadium, we bring to you five talking points:

Proteas’ short-ball strategy pays off

The move to bring Lungi Ngidi back into the lineup in place of Tabraiz Shamsi turned out to be a masterstroke for the Proteas, as the tall seamer would use the extra bouncer on offer at Perth brilliantly to rattle the Indian top-order. And while KL Rahul was dismissed cheaply yet again and Rohit Sharma stuttered for a second time in three games, it was the early dismissal of the in-form batter Virat Kohli that well and truly put the Proteas on top.

Ngidi would snare four wickets and was ably assisted by equally fiery spells from Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje as the Men in Blue were reduced to 49/5 at the halfway stage and failed to reach 140 in the end.

SKY continues to shine bright

As has been the case often this year, Suryakumar Yadav made the difference with the bat once again, standing tall against the fire-breathing Proteas attack at a time when batters were falling like nine pins at the other end. And the ease with which he took both pacers and spinners to the cleaners during his 40-ball 68, it was as if he was operating on the batting-friendly Sydney wicket while his teammates were dancing to the opposition’s tunes on the spicy Perth pitch.