Ahmedabad: If the Jasprit Bumrah-Arshdeep Singh bowling symphony had lit up the evening in front of an 82,000-strong Sunday crowd, India’s batting Powerplay in response proved a horror show. The Ahmedabad crowd seemed to respond in the same vein to the proceedings. A sense of shock and disbelief descended on the Narendra Modi Stadium as India’s famed batting line-up crumbled against South Africa’s bowling force.
Aiden Markram had telegraphed his intentions by bowling his off-spin in the nets for a long time in pre-match training. It was to counter India’s left-handers. Primarily, Abhishek Sharma, who found it tough against this adverse matchup. Instead, the South Africa captain accounted for Ishan Kishan, who registered a duck.
Tilak Varma, under pressure for being held up by spinners, tried to hit out against Marco Jansen this time. The ball caught a feather edge to the wicket-keeper. To make matters worse, Varma wasted a review before heading back to the pavilion, having scored one. Abhishek finally found his first runs in the tournament, a few boundaries too, but was foxed by Jansen’s slower ball.
If South Africa batters had a poor Powerplay (41/3), India’s response was worse (29/3). The defending champions’ three left-handers, picked as the best top-order bets in the system while defying data and T20 convention, had a collective off-day.
In World Cups, when it comes to big tournaments, there is no room for slip-ups. India’s 12-match winning streak was broken decisively by South Africa as they were steamrolled by 76 runs in the first of the Group 1 Super 8 encounters.
With the target (188) imposing, India’s middle-order had no time to rebuild. Before they could strategise, South Africa kept picking wickets. Washington Sundar (11) fell in the eighth over and Suryakumar Yadav (18) in the 10th.
Picking Washington Sundar over Axar Patel was a big call. Axar wasn’t just the designated vice-captain, he had bowled some smart spells in the matches he played. It can be argued that Axar is a decisively stronger batting force than Washington in this format. Indian strategists went with match-up data in dropping Axar. This didn’t seem to matter when choosing the batting top order.
Earlier, even as the crowd was fast filling to festive beats, Bumrah and Arshdeep were quickly in the thick of things. Arshdeep got some shape on the ball in the first over and Bumrah snapped up Quinton de Kock’s (6) wicket in the next over. Next, Markram (4) tried to clear mid-off and failed, handing Arshdeep another wicket. Then a piece of Bumrah magic ended Ryan Rickelton’s (7) stay.
India had delivered three early blows in successive overs, two of them left-handers. Washington, who was picked to potentially counter South Africa’s left-heavy top-order, wasn’t even required to bowl in the first six overs.
Surya’s bowling changes were not formulaic. Seeing some early swing on offer, Arshdeep bowled three overs on the trot. With the opponents under early pressure after the loss of wickets, Varun Chakravarthy was brought in to bowl the fifth over. With no clear opening to score quickly, South Africa was chained to 41/3 in the Powerplay.
Chakravarthy expensive
To offset India’s early advantage, South Africa needed to do something special. Their counter punch came from David Miller and Dewald Brevis, who both singled out Varun Chakravarthy for special treatment. For most teams, picking India’s mystery spinner off the hand has been a problem.
The manner in which Miller thumped Chakravarthy over long-on in the ninth over signalled how little grip the pitch offered for spinners. In the same over, Brevis smashed a straight no-look six, leaving little doubt that Chakravarthy had found his match. By the time he finished his spell (4-0-47-1), he had finally ended Miller’s stay at 63 (35 balls, 7×4, 3×6). But towards the end of his spell, Chakravarthy and Washington were firing in the deliveries to get out of their overs.
Interestingly, while India’s spinners had no say in the proceedings, Keshav Maharaj (3/24) was productive. Thanks to the 51-ball 97-run fourth wicket stand between Miller and Brevis, the Proteas batters well and truly came back into the contest. The visitors’ bowlers doubled up on that impact.
While Bumrah pulled things back again at the death with Arshdeep, the final over proved to be the most expensive. Tristan Stubbs scored 44* (24 balls, 1×4, 3×6) and carted Hardik Pandya for two sixes, making it a 20-run over.
