New Delhi, Feb 23 After India slumped to a crushing 76-run defeat against South Africa in their Super Eights clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, former India great Sunil Gavaskar highlighted a clear difference in strategy between the two teams, noting that the Proteas demonstrated adaptability that India could not showcase.
Riding on David Miller's 63 off 35 balls and Dewald Brevis’ 45, South Africa recovered from 20/3 to post 187/7 before bundling India out for 111 in 18.5 overs in front of 90,954 fans. Marco Jansen's 4-22 and Keshav Maharaj’s 3-24 dismantled India’s chase, which never gathered momentum after slipping to 51/5 inside 10 overs.
Reflecting on the game, Gavaskar underlined how Miller and Brevis rebuilt the innings on a sluggish black soil pitch where the ball held up and stroke-making was far from straightforward.
“If you look at the way Dewald Brevis and David Miller rebuilt the South African innings, they played a lot more shots in the ‘V’, especially when the short ball was used. They adjusted really well. They realised the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat as quickly as expected — it was holding up slightly in the surface. Having seen how they constructed their innings and built that partnership, that was the kind of approach that was needed, rather than simply throwing the bat at just about everything,” Gavaskar said while speaking on Star Sports after the game.
His remarks came in the backdrop of India’s hurried batting display, where several top-order batters perished attempting expansive strokes instead of consolidating after early setbacks. Ishan Kishan fell to a wild slog, Tilak Varma was undone by extra bounce, and Abhishek Sharma’s brief counterattack ended via a top edge, as South Africa’s bowlers exploited conditions smartly.
In contrast, Miller, who has extensive experience at the venue from his IPL stint with the Gujarat Titans, paced his innings expertly, finding boundaries through orthodox strokeplay before accelerating. Brevis complemented him with calculated aggression, as their 97-run partnership steadied the innings after the early blows inflicted by Jasprit Bumrah (3-15) and Arshdeep Singh (2-28).
The defeat ended India's 12-match winning streak in T20 World Cups and marked their first loss in an ICC World Cup game since the 2023 ODI World Cup final at the same venue. With their net run rate dipping to -3.8, the defending champions now face a must-win situation in their remaining Super Eights fixtures against the West Indies and Zimbabwe to keep semi-final hopes alive.
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