:BD Naraayannkar
Perth: A top class unbeaten fifty by David Miller and fine bowling performance by Lungi Ngidi and Wayne Parnell, helped South Africa beat India by 5 wickets in a Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup at Perth Stadium here on Sunday.With this win, South Africa go to the top of the points table and India slip down to the second.
Many expected an easy chase for South Africa, but the Indian bowlers, especially the pacers led by Mohammad Shami (1/13) and Arshdeep Singh (2/25) were superb. They put pressure on the Proteas with their swing, unlike South African pacers who made it difficult for Indian batsmen with pace and bounce.
An impressive 76-run stand between Miller (59 off 46, 4x4s, 3x6s) and Aiden Markram for the fourth wicket when South Africa were struggling at 24/3 in 5.4 overs, almost buried the hopes of India.South Africa had just got 40/3 in the first 10 overs, but after the drinks break, both the batsmen shifted gear and started off by punishing Hardik Pandya, picking up 16 runs in the 11th over.
Markram was lucky in the 12th and 13th over as he was dropped by Virat Kohli on 35 and on the same score Rohit Sharma missed another chance to run him out.Off Ravichandran Ashwin's third over, Markram and Miller picked 17 runs, changing the complexion of the match.
In the 15th over, Markram reached his fifty after he, along with his partner, plundered 10 runs, taking the score to 95/3.In the next over, however, Pandya (1/29) broke the partnership by bagging Markram's (52 off 41 balls, 6x4s, 1x6) wicket after Suryakumar Yadav completed the catch at the deep and pushed the match to the final over.
Arshdeep bowled superbly removing Quinton de Kock (1) and Rilee Rossouw (0) in his very first over with an outswinger and inswinger respectively.Shami and Hardik Pandya rallied behind the pacers with disciplined bowling.
Opting to bat first, Suryakumar hammered a superb half-century to help India wriggle out from a deep hole at 49/5 after a nerve-wracking new-ball bowling performance of South African fast bowlers led by Ngidi and Parnell.
Suryakumar, in his sublime best, established his authority over the South African fast bowlers who were hitting the deck with raw pace and bounce. He went about with his business with his trademark lofty flicks and shots square of the wicket even as Dinesh Karthik (6) and Ashwin (7) took time to settle in.
Suryakumar (68 off 40, 6x4s, 3x6s) completed his ninth half-century of the year in T20s to help India to 133/9 in 20 overs, falling only in the penultimate over of the innings after making a terrific 68 off just 40 balls.
Rohit and Rahul started off in sedate manner, seeing off the first four overs with pummelling a six apiece early on.But Ngidi, who was enjoying the pace and bounce on the pitch, struck twice in his first over. He removed Rohit off a short ball that found the top edge off the pull shot for 15 and Rahul who edged to the slip cordon after making 9.
Kohli got into the act from word go as he drove and flicked for exquisite boundaries, but fell trying to pull, top edging Ngidi to Kagiso Rabada in the deep.During his 12 runs innings, Kohli reached his personal landmark of scoring 1000 runs in the T20 World Cup, but that was overshadowed by the fiery fast bowling of South Africa.
Deepak Hooda (0), who replaced Axar Patel, fell to Anrich Nortje and India found themselves struggling at 42/4 in the 8th over. Pandya (2) returned to the dugout in the next over as they lost half the side with just 49 runs on the board.
Ngidi was the wrecker-in-chief as he blew the top-order away with a 4-fer, while the rest rallied behind him, especially Wayne Parnell who bagged 3-fer of his own.(UNI)
