India lost to South Africa by 76 runs in the Super 8 stage, questions over captain's decisions and difficulty in reaching the semi-finals

 India lost to South Africa by 76 runs in the Super 8 stage, questions over captain's decisions and difficulty in reaching the semi-finals

South Africa defeated India by 76 runs in the Super 8 stage of the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup.

Chasing a target of 188 runs set by South Africa on Sunday, the Indian team was all out for 111 runs.

Batting first, South Africa scored 187 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Marco Johnson took four wickets and Keshav Maharaj took three wickets to help South Africa win. Shivam Dube top-scored for India with 42 runs.

This is India's first defeat in the T20 World Cup 2026. Team India had won all four of its matches in the group stage.

But David Miller was adjudged the Man of the Match for South Africa's victory in this match.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first in this match played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

 

India's innings

The Indian cricket team looked under pressure from the very beginning of their batting in the match against South Africa on Sunday. Indian opener Ishan Kishan was dismissed for duck on the fourth ball of the first over, bowled by South African captain Markram.

Then Tilak Verma was out on the first ball of the second over. His wicket was taken by Jansen. India had lost two wickets for five runs by the first ball of the second over of their innings.

However, after three matches, Abhishek Sharma managed to open his account and hit a boundary on the last ball of the first over.

Start at 107%;">Sharma tried to stay at the crease for some time but he too was out on the third ball of the fifth over. With three wickets falling quickly, India sent Washington Sundar to bat at number five. But the move did not work and Sundar was out for just 11 runs.

Then captain Suryakumar Yadav was also out for 18 runs off 22 balls.

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In the match against South Africa, half of the Indian team had returned to the pavilion in the 10th over. Hardik Pandya tried to take the innings forward along with Shivam Dube but their innings failed to go beyond 18 runs.

In the 15th over, Keshav Maharaj took the wickets of Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh. Rinku Singh was out for a duck in two balls.

Shivam Dube definitely took India past 100 by scoring 42 runs in 37 balls but Johnson also dismissed him.

South Africa's innings

Batting first, South Africa got off to a poor start.

Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Arsdeep Singh bowled brilliantly at the start. The South African openers hit their first boundary on the 10th ball of the match, but Jasprit Bumrah dismissed de Kock on the very next ball to give India their first win.

Arsdeep also performed brilliantly in the next over, dismissing captain Markram on the fourth ball of the third over.

Ryan Rickelton, who came to bat at number three, also could not put up a good show and was dismissed by Bumrah on the last ball of the fourth over.

Batting first, South Africa looked under pressure after losing three wickets for 20 runs in four overs.

But then David Brewers tried to stabilize the African innings. They shared a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket in 30 balls.

South Africa's score at the end of 10 overs was 84 for three.

However, Shivam Dube dismissed Brewes on the second ball of the 13th over. Brewes scored 45 runs off 29 balls. However, Miller remained firm on the wicket and completed his half-century in 26 balls.

After Brewes' dismissal, Miller, along with Stubbs, took the South African innings forward. However, Varun Chakravarthy, who proved to be expensive in the match, gave India the important wicket of Miller. Miller scored 63 runs off 35 balls.

Miller's innings included seven fours and three sixes. Varun took Miller's wicket on the fourth ball of the 16th over. South Africa's fifth wicket fell at 152.

Arsdeep Singh put South Africa under pressure again when he dismissed Johnson on the second ball of the 18th over.

Stubbs played an unbeaten 44 off 24 balls to take South Africa's score to 187.

In addition to Bumrah's three wickets, Arsdeep Singh took two wickets while Varun Chakravarthy and Shivam Dube took one wicket each.

Reaching the semi-finals

Now, Team India will not only have to win the next two matches of the Super-8s, but also have to keep a better run rate.

Not only this, India may have to depend on other teams to reach the semi-finals.

India's next two matches are against the West Indies and Zimbabwe. If India wins both its matches and South Africa also wins both its matches, then Team India will have 4 points and South Africa will have 6 points, which will make it easy for Team India to qualify for the semi-finals.

If India faces another defeat, then there is a risk of being completely eliminated from the World Cup. If India wins both its matches and South Africa loses one, then both the teams will have 4 points each.

But if the West Indies defeat South Africa, then the match between Zimbabwe and the West Indies will become very important. India will then have to hope that Zimbabwe defeats the West Indies.

In this case, West Indies and Zimbabwe will be left with two points each, in which case India and South Africa will qualify with four points each.