Suryakumar Yadav played the best knock of his short international career but South Africa exposed India’s inadequacies against extreme pace and bounce to win a low-scoring thriller by five wickets in the T20 World Cup on October 30 (Sunday) at the Optus Stadium in Perth. While Surya’s 68 off 40 balls will easily qualify as one of the most accomplished knocks in adverse conditions, India’s defence of a below-par total of 133 for 9 was always going to be a challenge.
Arshdeep Singh, the lion-hearted left-armer, did bowl another dream first spell but Aiden Markram (52 off 41 balls) and David Miller (59 not out off 46 balls), one of the best T20 finishers in the game, ensured the target was achieved in 19.4 overs.
It was during the match out-of-favour leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was seen carrying drinks on multiple occasions and having fun with the on-field umpires. In a video that has gone viral on social media, the diminutive spinner can be seen goofing around with the officials and even went on to playfully punch one of the on-field umpires.
Watch the video here:
While South Africa (5 points from 3 games) are now on top of group 2, India (4 points from 2 games) with upcoming matches against Bangladesh (November 2 in Adelaide) and Zimbabwe (November 6 in Melbourne) are well within striking distance of a semi-final berth.
The team that may pay the price for India’s defeat is Pakistan, who now have an uphill task at hand.
(With PTI inputs)
