Epic T20 encounters between India and South Africa

New Delhi: South Africa will come on a 72-day tour to India and will begin their campaign by playing three international T20 matches.

Both India and South Africa have the players who on any given day can turn the table in their favour singlehandedly. South African players are pretty much well accustomed with playing conditions in India, thanks to Indian Premier League.  

South Africa has announced their squad for the Tour to India while the Indian selectors also announced the list of Indian players who will be a part of Team India in the three international T20 matches.  Before that, let us take a look on the instances when the both teams had met one on one in the shortest format of the game.

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If we take a look on the instances when both the teams had played against each other, they were all close encounters. In terms of numbers, Team India has the upper hand as it had own six matches out of the total eight that the both teams have played against each other.

The two teams have faced each other five times during the World T20 championships in which India won own on four occasions and South Africa on one occasion.

Here we present you the four most memorable T20 matches between the two countries:

1) India vs South Africa 2006: 

It was the first T20 International that was played by Team India. For South Africa, it was their fourth international T20 match. India, under the leadership of MS Dhoni, went with four fast bowlers and it was a successful ploy as South Africa were all out for a paltry score of 126 runs losing nine wickets.

When Indian batsmen came to the field they got off to a rollicking start, thanks to some quick fire hitting by Sehwag.

India needed nine runs of the last over to win and Dinesh Karthik eased the nerves in the dressing room by sweeping the first ball of the over from Robin Peterson for a six.

Karthik hit the winning runs of the penultimate ball of the match and guided India to their first T20I triumph.

2) South Africa vs India at Kingsmead, Durban, 2007:

The two teams once again met the next year at the World T20 championship. It was a crucial match for India since the team needed to defeat its opponents with a good margin so that India could move into the next stage.

India opted to bat first after winning the toss and put up a decent 153 for 5 at the end of twenty overs. Rohit sharma scored a brilliant half century to help his team post a respectable total after the initial hiccups faced by the squad.

It was once again the Indian pacers who worked wonder for the team. RP Singh and S Sreesanth ran through the South African batting line up and reduced them to 31 for 5 in 5.5 overs.

In the end, South Africa were defeated by 37 runs which meant that India had qualified for the semi final of the tournament. Rohit Sharma was named the Man of the Match.

3) South Africa vs India at Premadasa Stadium, 2012:

The next big encounter between both the teams was once again at the ICC World T20 tournament in Colombo. South Africa, after winning the toss, had asked India to bat and they posted a competitive 152 for six in the stipulated twenty overs.

Indian pacer Balaji had the last laugh as India won the match by one run. Yuvraj Singh who also chipped in with two crucial wickets was named the Man of the Match for his all-round performance.

4) South Africa vs India at Shere Bangla National Stadium, 2014:

The two teams met in the semi final of World T20, setting up another high voltage encounter. Batting first, South Africa posted a competitive score of 172 for the loss of four wickets.

For India, Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers taking three wickets. His bowling was all the more impressive as Ashwin's delivery that castled Amla was called as the Twenty20 ‘Ball of the Century'

In reply, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane got India off to a solid start. Rahane made a useful contribution scoring 32 as Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh took India ahead.

India needed six runs of nine balls and it was Kohli who took India into the final of the World Twenty20 for the second time. He was also named the Man of the Match as he scored 72 runs in the match.