T20 World Cup 2022: Led by David Miller and Aiden Markram, South Africa on Sunday defeated India in a low-scoring affair at the Perth Stadium. The Indian cricket team was up to a challenge to face the Proteas side on the fast and bouncy surface of Perth and were first reduced to 133. The turf was not an easy one for chasing and South Africa were jolted by Arshdeep Singh in the beginning. As things were on the clinical route, India missed some chances on the field and Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened on the same.
In bowling, Aiden Markram was given three lifelines. In the initial period of his batting, Suryakumar Yadav failed to run Markram out. He was yet again given the lifeline as Virat Kohli dropped Markram at deep mid-wicket, one that he would have taken on most occasions. Following this, captain Rohit Sharma failed to run Markram out yet again when he was on 36.
Reflecting on the missed chances, Kumar said, "If you take those catches, it's a different thing. The catches we dropped, or the misses, I think that's where, not the moment specifically, but we knew if we could have got those it changes things, things could have been different," Kumar said in a media conference following India's loss to South Africa. He added, "But I don’t think there wasn't any particular moment where we can say that things shifted towards their side."
On the back of Suryakumar Yadav, India posted a total of 133 in 20 overs as the Perth surface suited the fast bowlers. Lungi Ngidi created havoc in India's batting as he scalped 4 wickets. Coming out to chase, India too got a brilliant start with Arshdeep Singh sending back Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw in his first over. South Africa ware limping at 40/3 after 10 overs as the match looked very balanced. However, Miller and Markram combined to bring South Africa out of trouble as they stitched a partnership of 76 runs. India got rid of Markram but South Africa were looking set for a victory by then. Miller held his nerves and took Proteas to the finishing line in the final over as South Africa won by 5 wickets.
