India vs. South Africa (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) NEW DELHI: South Africa beat India by 76 runs in their opening Super 8 of the T20 World Cup, handing the hosts a reality check and exposing serious flaws in their batting at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Chasing 188, India collapsed to 111 in 18.5 overs on a tricky surface with the Proteas bowlers dominating throughout. Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Corbin Bosch led the collective bowling effort while Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliant spell earlier in the game came up empty. For South Africa, David Miller, Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs were instrumental in raising the total to 187/7 after an early wobble.
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After the match, South Africa captain Aiden Markram praised his team for reading the conditions well and executing their plans. “A great performance. A very different type of goal to what we had here, so great to see the lads assess it quite early and adapt their skills to execute their plans,” he said in the post-match presentation. Markram emphasized the importance of the Miller-Brevis partnership, adding: “I think the partnership came first. (Miller and Brevis) The guys were great, they got us together, they steadied the ship and kept us in the game.”He explained how the team adjusted their approach in the second half of the innings, noting: “So it was about finding a space where we could run hard, drop the egos and take as much as possible out of the back end.” Markram also praised his bowling group, calling their performance a big boost after a slow start to the tournament. “We’re going to make mistakes, we don’t mind that as a group, so we brush them aside. We feel Lungi is a threat whenever he bowls and he can take wickets for us in that middle stage. It depends on the conditions,” he added.Looking ahead, he warned against complacency, describing the West Indies as a “dangerous T20 side” and stressing the need to remain alert for the upcoming clash.Meanwhile, India had a disastrous batting show. Early wickets put them on the back foot and none of the top-order batsmen managed to build a meaningful innings on a surface where the ball gripped and timing was difficult. Even Suryakumar Yadav struggled to find fluency while the middle order failed to recover from an early collapse. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube tried to recover but South Africa’s disciplined bowling plans halted any late fightback.
