India suffered a disappointing 76-run defeat to South Africa in the opening match of the Super 8 stage, suffering their first defeat in 13 T20 World Cup matches.
Jasprit Bumrah (3-15) became India’s all-time leading wicket-taker in this tournament, picking two of the three wickets to take South Africa to 20-3 in four overs after deciding to bat first at the toss.
However, the imperious David Miller (63 off 35 balls) got the Proteas out of trouble and lifted them to a very defensible 187-7.
In reply, India limped to 51-5 after 10 overs, but spinner Keshav Maharaj (3-24) took three wickets alone in the 15th over, condemning the hosts to an embarrassing defeat as they were bowled out for 111.
As a result, South Africa take control of Group 1 of the Super 8s, with India looking to keep their semi-final hopes alive with must-win games against Zimbabwe and West Indies, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
India are ruled out for the first time in the tournament due to impressive Miller and top-order struggle
India’s Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket against Pakistan in the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup (related report)
Bumrah’s great bowling performance gave India a fast start as they picked up two wickets early on. The first was just as impressive as the second, a beautiful shot that hit the top of Quentin de Kock’s mid-stump. Bumrah recreated Arshdeep Singh’s dismissal of Aiden Markram with a beautifully developed slow ball, fooling Ryan Rickleton into popping one out and taking an easy catch at mid-off.
Despite a shaky start with 20 wins and 3 losses, South Africa’s top order bounced back. A 97-run partnership between the intimidating Miller and Dewald Brevis (45 off 29) got the batsmen back on track, with Brevis slipping a careless drive to Abhishek Sharma at deep midwicket and Varun Chakravarthy tempting Miller to hole out for a boundary.
When Bumrah caught and bowled Corbin Bosch to take his third of the game, the Proteas’ lower-order side appeared to have been defeated on a whimper, but Tristan Stubbs (44 no off 24) produced a flurry of second-half runs, clubbing 20 from Hardik Pandya from the final over to give South Africa a very defendable total of 187-8.
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Highlights of the match between India and Pakistan in the T20 World Cup held in Colombo.
India were then reeling from South Africa’s quick start to the ball, but two wickets failed in the first seven balls. Markram induced Ishan Kishan to drive to extra cover where he was caught for a duck, but just two balls later Tilak Varma was caught and India were reeling at 5-2.
Opener Abhishek Sharma (15 off 12) was able to score his maiden run in the T20 World Cup after three ducks to start the tournament, but he was again quickly packed by Marco Jansen.
Washington Sundar (11 for 11) and captain Suryakumar Yadav (18 for 22) both fell prey to the impressive Bosh and India found themselves in a tough situation at 51-5 in 9.1 overs.
Maharaj took the wickets of Pandya, Rinku Singh and Arshdeep in quick succession, and even a late surge from Shivam Dube (42 off 37) could not stop India from suffering a crushing defeat in front of a raucous home crowd in Ahmedabad.
