Ahmedabad, Feb 22 (UNI) South Africa defeated India by 76 runs in a Super 8 Group 1 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at Narendra Modi Stadium. This was India’s first defeat in 18 ICC matches across formats since losing the 2023 World Cup final against Australia at the same venue.
It was also India’s first defeat in a multi-nation T20I tournament since losing the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal against England in Adelaide.
Across 23 matches in ICC events, India won 21 (including one Super Over win), lost 1, and had 1 no-result.
Batting first, South Africa were initially rocked by India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who produced superb new-ball bowling. He dismissed Quinton de Kock with a sharp nip-backer that disturbed the stumps, while Ryan Rickelton was caught attempting a defensive chip to the field. Skipper Aiden Markram also fell early, leaving South Africa at 20 for 3 inside the powerplay.
The recovery was spearheaded by Dewald Brevis, David Miller partnership. Miller, in particular, played a composed and powerful knock, scoring 63 off 35 balls. He reached his half-century in 26 deliveries and struck powerful straight sixes down the ground while finding boundaries through intelligent placement. His partnership with Brevis was worth 97 runs and completely changed the momentum of the innings.
Miller played with typical T20 maturity, accelerating when required and rotating strike efficiently during the middle overs. Brevis also supported well with aggressive strokeplay before being dismissed for 45.
In the death overs, Tristan Stubbs provided the finishing flourish with powerful hitting, smashing consecutive sixes off Hardik Pandya in the final over. South Africa closed at 187 for 7.
Chasing 188, India suffered an early collapse. Opener Ishan Kishan was dismissed for a first-ball duck after mistiming a slog against Aiden Markram’s spin.
Abhishek Sharma tried to counterattack but was dismissed by Marco Jansen, who extracted bounce and seam movement. Tilak Varma followed immediately as India slipped to 5 for 2.
Captain Suryakumar Yadav tried to rebuild with elegant strokeplay but was dismissed by Corbin Bosch at 9.1 overs, leaving India in serious trouble.
The lone fightback came from Shivam Dube, who played a fighting knock of 42 off 37 balls, hitting three sixes during the middle phase. However, India lacked partnerships.
The turning point of the match arrived when spinner Keshav Maharaj spun a web around the Indian batting lineup, producing a sensational triple-strike over that completely changed the course of the game.
Maharaj struck first by dismissing Hardik Pandya, who tried to go against the turn with a backfoot lofted shot but only managed to find Stubbs at the boundary. The pressure continued to mount as Rinku Singh followed almost immediately, attempting a big swing across the line but only succeeding in miscuing the shot towards long-on.
The third wicket of the over was completed when Arshdeep Singh tried to break the pressure with an aggressive drive down the ground, only to be caught in the deep, completing a devastating over that crushed India’s hopes of a comeback.
That over completely broke India’s resistance and shifted the match firmly towards South Africa.
Jansen returned to complete the bowling attack, finishing with four wickets. His final dismissal came when he trapped Jasprit Bumrah, who chipped a slower ball to extra cover, ending India’s innings at 111.
