T20 WC: South Africa registers five-wicket win over India, tops Group 2
Perth, October 30: Brilliant half-centuries from Aiden Markram and David Miller helped South Africa overcome early hiccups and defeat India by five wickets in their Group 2, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday.
With this win, South Africa is at top of the table with five points and two
wins in three matches. India is in the second position with four points and two
wins in three. Suryakumar Yadav (68) was India's only star in batting. Though
India had SA down at 24/3, Miller (59*) and Markram (52) powered them to
victory with two balls to spare. Chasing 134, South Africa was off to a bad
start as they lost in-form batters Quinton de Kock (1) and Rilee Rossouw (0) to
pacer Arshdeep Singh. The bowler was breathing fire in his first over and
dismissed them both within the first three balls. Proteas were reduced to 3/2.
After this, Arshdeep joined forces with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The youngster and
veteran continued building immense pressure on out-of-form skipper Temba Bavuma
and Aiden Markram, not really letting them open their arms loose.
Building up pressure paid off for Men in Blue as Bavuma was dismissed by
Mohammad Shami, after being caught behind by wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik
for 10 off 15 balls. Proteas were 24/3 in 5.4 overs.
At the end of the powerplay in six overs, South Africa was at 24/3, with David
Miller (0*) joining Markram (12*).
At the end of 10 overs, South Africa was at 40/3, with Markram (23*) and Miller
(5*) at the crease. They needed 94 in the last 10 overs.
The second half started on a good note for Proteas as both batters hit Hardik
Pandya for 16 runs in the 11th over, including three fours. SA crossed the
50-run mark in 11.4 overs.
