India suffered a crushing 76-run defeat to South Africa in their first Super Eights clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Batting first, the Proteas were reduced to 20/3 in the powerplay, but David Miller and Dewald Brevis, the designated finishers of the team, stood tall, powering a 97-run partnership to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Miller proved to be a vital cog, scoring 63 runs off 35 balls. He released the pressure as India failed to capitalise in the middle overs, something that has been their strength in the shortest format of the game. Varun Chakravarthy has dominated this phase in the last couple of years, but the Chennai-born failed to find any rhythm, leaking 47 runs in his four overs.
On the other hand, South Africaโs X-factor Dewald Brevis made 45 runs off 29 balls. Tristan Stubbs added some fireworks in the fag end, including a 20-run over against Hardik Pandya. He made 44 runs at a strike rate of 183.33 as South Africa posted 187 runs in the first innings. For India, Jasprit Bumrah stole the show, claiming three wickets. With that, he became Indiaโs leading wicket-taker in T20 World Cup history.
When it came to the chase, India lost wickets at regular intervals. Ishan Kishan departed for a duck, while Abhishek Sharma finally got into the scoreboard in this World Cup, scoring 15 runs off 12 balls. Tilak Varma failed again, scoring one. Interestingly, Washington Sundar was promoted to number five, but that move flopped as well. He made 11 runs off the same number of balls.
Captain Suryakumar couldnโt make the most of the opportunity, departing for 18 runs off 22 balls. Soon after that, Hardik Pandya went back to the pavilion for the same score. Rinku Singh ended up scoring a duck and with that, his spot in the playing XI deserves extreme scrutiny.
Shivam Dube, in the meantime, left all on the ground but with little support from the other end, he couldnโt do much. The all-rounder made 42ย runs as India were left in ruins.
How can India still qualify?
Suffering a 76-runย defeat will hurt India as their Net Run Rate took a major hit. Next up, they will play Zimbabwe and West Indies and even if they win both games, a spot in the semi-finals may not be secured.ย
As things stand, if the winner of the Zimbabwe and West Indies go on to beat South Africa, the group will be wide open and it will only invite more pressure on the hosts. India need the Aiden Markram-led side to win all their remaining matches to keep NRR out of the equation.ย However, if West Indies and Zimbabwe end up pulling an upset, the game could be done for India.
The Suryakumar-led side, in the meantime, will not just need to win their remaining games but also look to improve their Net Run Rate.