Match Report - South Africa bounce India out at Perth
Excellent spells by South Africa's fast bowlers gave them an early advantage and India was never quite able to fight back after that.
Toss & Team Changes
India won the toss and decided to bat first. It was the 2nd game of the day on this pitch at Perth, and pitches seem to slow down as the game progresses. That could be the reason why India decided the bat first. From the playing XI perspective, India dropped Axar Patel and brought in Deepak Hooda to strengthen the batting.
Even though Hooda didn’t trouble the scorers, it was a good decision to add the extra batter against South Africa’s 4 pacers. Additionally, on this pitch and South Africa’s 3 left-handers, Axar wouldn’t necessarily be the most useful. South Africa went with 1 change - bringing in Ngidi in place of Tabraiz Shamsi. Again, a sensible change considering the venue.
India’s batting
South Africa’s pacers were on the mark right away. The lengths they bowled weren’t easy to score against and batters had to work hard to even survive, let alone score. KL Rahul played out a maiden before getting off the mark with a six. He didn’t survive too long after getting caught at slips, trying to navigate the ball to the third-man region for a single.
His form continues to be a pain point for India. For someone who has a test 100 in Sydney back in 2014, I expected him to do better in Australia. KL’s numbers against the top 8 nations since 2021 have been poor by any openers standards and if he doesn’t fire in 1 more game, India needs to look at Pant as an opener or maybe even push Kohli to open.
One of the 3 fastest bowlers in the tournaments, Anrich Nortje came on to bowl in the 5th over and bowled an absolute beauty to cut Virat Kohli and even surprised Quinton de Kock to go for 4 byes. That was the ball of the game for me, although he almost repeated the same ball 2 balls later to Suryakumar Yadav (SKY).
With the pacers doing a great job, South Africa were smart to not bring in Keshav Maharaj right away. This meant India were 60/5 by the 10th over and SKY had to wait before he got really get going.
The best T20 batter in the world - Suryakumar Yadav
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 2 years, you have seen the magic of Suryakumar Yadav. He has been the rockstar in India’s T20 batting for the past couple of years, scoring more runs than anyone else in the line-up. Today, he had to adapt. He had played just 3 balls when India lost the 4th wicket in the 8th over and the South Africans were using the bounce smartly.
For someone who smacked Jofra Archer for a 6 on his T20I debut, SKY took his time and took singles off the back foot to get a partnership going. Anytime the ball was not in his half, he either tried to take a single or scoop it over the keeper (although he didn’t connect those). After the 10th over, SKY added 51 runs off just 27 balls playing shots to all areas of the ground, as he has been doing for the past 2-3 years. Although India managed a total of just 133, it was probably his best ever knock in an Indian jersey.
Lungi Ngidi was brought in for this game and he was on the money right away. He got both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, two solid players off the pull stroke, caught off short-pitch balls. And he was well supported by all the other pacers. India’s problem was that no one was able to support SKY in that innings. Even if there had been one knock of 20+ by the lower order (Hardik, Karthik, or Ashwin), India would have managed to get close to 150, which was probably a par score on this pitch.
South Africa’s Innings
With early assistance available, Bhuvi and Arshdeep started the proceedings by bowling fuller lengths. Arshdeep has proven his capabilities in the death overs and is now showing how good he can be in the Powerplay as well. He started his spell with a perfect seam position, driving length which got Quinton de Kock caught at slip. Following this, Arshdeep set up Riley Rossouw's dismissal beautifully starting with one that seamed away from the left-hander and then following it up with one that moved in to get him LBW.
Early wickets and the right lengths kept South Africa in check at 24/3 at the end of the Powerplay. Mohammed Shami, who came in as Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement, and wasn’t a fan favorite in the T20 format, bowled two really solid overs. Shami’s record in ODIs and Tests in Australia was likely the reason the team management trusted him over Siraj (and some of the other options), and they seemed to have read the conditions perfectly. At the 10-over mark, South Africa were 40/3 needing 94 runs in 10 overs with Aiden Markram and David Miller in the middle.
While I personally prefer Yuzi Chahal as India’s main T20 spinner (since he takes more wickets), Ashwin has proved he can bowl in a variety of situations and has done a good job. Against South Africa, he bowled 2 really good overs and should have had the wicket of Aiden Markram if not for a regulation catch dropped by Kohli. As mentioned in my World Cup preview for South Africa, they have the best middle order in the world right now and giving them chances allowed the game to slip. In the following over, Rohit Sharma missed a run-out, and India never quite recovered after that.
Markram and Miller showed their superb ability to bat against both pace and spin and took on Ashwin in his 3rd over the moment he missed his length. Additionally, the huge ground in Perth with boundaries 75+ meters all around meant they were able to take 2s consistently. Between the 13th and 16th over, the pair took 5 twos along with plenty of boundaries to pull the game back.
With 25 runs needed in the last 3 overs, South Africa were well and truly on top. India had 2 overs by Shami and Bhuvi and 1 over from Ashwin. Most teams would have relied on the pacers (who were doing well) and tried to leave as many runs as possible for Ashwin’s last over. However, India did the opposite and threw the ball to Ashwin in the 18th over. While he picked up the wicket of Tristan Stubbs, Ashwin also got hit for 2 sixes and the game was more or less done right then.
While India were about 15 runs short, that early burst with the ball gave them a chance. You have to take all chances when defending a low total, and India just didn’t do that. With this win, South Africa look well-placed to qualify as the top team in the group, although they still have to play Pakistan in Sydney.
Apart from KL Rahul’s form, India doesn’t have a lot to be worried about either. They have won 1 of the 2 tough games in the group and barring any rainouts should be able to qualify. Additionally, while they were in trouble on this pitch, they don’t play any more group stages matches at Perth and none of the knockout games are at this venue.