T20 World Cup: Mocked as ‘Chokers,’ South Africa Chokeslam India in 76-Run Win

T20 World Cup 2026: At the Narendra Modi Stadium, 11 yellow jerseys have silenced a sea of blue again.

T20 World Cup 2026: South Africa defeated India by 76 runs.

(Photo: X)

It has happened again. At the Narendra Modi Stadium, a team donning yellow shirts has stunned a sea of blue. Except, on this occasion, both the team and the competition was different.

In Australia’s place, it was South Africa, while the competition was the T20 World Cup as opposed to the ODI World Cup. What did not change, however, was the team on the losing side — India, and their thousands of fans, who had flocked to the stadium with unmatched enthusiasm and hope because their team was unbeaten, much like at the 2023 World Cup, walking back with a dejected look.

On Sunday, 22 February, South Africa stunned India by handing them a statement 76-run defeat in Ahmedabad. Chasing a target of 187 runs, India were bowled out for only 111, which happens to be their second-lowest total in T20Is against the Proteas.

Here's what happened in the match.

Bumrah & Arshdeep Give India a Dream Start

A couple of significant decisions were announced at the toss. Firstly, Aiden Markram, upon winning the battle of fortunes, announced that his team would like to bowl first. Four of the five matches at this venue were won by chasing teams at the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup, but the Proteas had won two of their three T20 World Cup 2026 matches here already, beating Canada and Afghanistan.

On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav announced that Washington Sundar has been preferred ahead of Axar Patel. With the South African team having two potent southpaws in Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton, both of whom came into this fixture with form on their side, fielding an off-spinner was a ‘tactical decision,’ as mentioned by the Indian captain.

That being said, both left-handers were sent packing even before Washington Sundar got the opportunity to roll his arm over. In his second over, a Jasprit Bumrah inswinger found Quinton de Kock out of ideas, and perhaps, acumen too. The South African wicketkeeper-batter, who had scored a half-century against Afghanistan on this very venue, could only contribute six runs to his team’s cause today.

At the start of this match, Markram was fourth on the list of leading run-scorers. Only a week ago, he had scored a 44-ball 86 against New Zealand on the wicket adjacent to where today’s match was held. Yet, the South African captain did not in any sort of rhythm today, and his seven-ball misery ended when he chipped an Arshdeep Singh delivery to Hardik Pandya at mid-off. He could only score four runs.

Rickelton is another South African batter who had been scoring runs aplenty in this competition. Like de Kock, he, too, had a half-century against Afghanistan. But replication of the same did not stand a chance today, as a perfectly concealed slower delivery from Bumrah outfoxed him. Rickelton scored a run-a-ball 7.

Brevis & Miller Change Game's Complexion

At the end of four overs, South Africa’s score read 20/3. Though, an 11-run over off Varun Chakravarthy and a 10-run over off Arshdeep Singh ensured a switch in momentum.

Chakravarthy, in particular, had a difficult outing. Quinton de Kock had told The Quint on the eve of the match that the Ahmedabad track is not going to offer any assistance to the spinners, and his claim was proven right by Dewald Brevis and David Miller. Of all the boundaries and sixes he conceded, the one struck by Brevis in the penultimate ball of the ninth over will perhaps cause the biggest dent in his confidence, for which other 22-year-old batter can dispatch world’s number 1 T20I bowler for a no look six?

The introduction of Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube into the firing line did not prove efficacious for captain Suryakumar Yadav at the onset. The former conceded 15 runs in his first couple of overs, whereas the latter required only one over to concede the same number of runs. From 20/3 in four overs, South Africa reached the 100-run mark in 11.1 overs, taking only 43 deliveries to score 80 runs.

Miller Steals the Show Against India, Again

Dube, however, returned strongly after conceding 21 runs in first seven deliveries to get the wicket of Dewald Brevis, who scored 45 runs in only 29 deliveries. Miscuing a pull shor, Brevis offered a regulation catch to Abhishek Sharma at deep midwicket, thereby calling curtains on a 97-run fourth-wicket stand.

Partner’s departure, though, did not result in a change of batting approach for David Miller, who brought up his third T20I half-century against India in that very over by smashing a Dube free-hit for a maximum. With today’s 35-ball 63, Miller has now scored 482 runs in 19 T20I innings in India. Both his average of 53.55 and his strike rate of 174.00 in India is his highest among all the Test playing nations.

Miller’s knock eventually came to an end in the 16^th over, when in a bid to take Chakravarthy to the cleaners, he found Tilak Varma at long-off — a fielding position that might trigger unhappy memories for the veteran batter. He scored 63 runs in 35 deliveries, hitting seven fours and three sixes in the process.

For the leggie, it was a late consolation on what was a gruelling day at the office, which saw him conceding 47 runs in four overs. Notably, this was his third-most expensive spell in this format of the game. What is even more intriguing is that fact that all of his 40+ spells in T20I cricket have been against South Africa.

Till Miller was out on the middle for South Africa, it seemed that 200 was a perfectly achievable total. Yet, India tipped the scales in their favour in the three overs following his departure, which yielded only 15 runs. However, a 20-run 20^th over from Hardik Pandya took South Africa’s total to 187/7 — same as their score against Afghanistan, albeit with a wicket more. Tristan Stubbs orchestrated the last flourish, scoring an unbeaten 44 off 24 deliveries.

Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers from India. It was the 17^th time in his career where the Indian pace spearhead bowled a four-over spell and conceded less than 20 runs in T20I cricket, and the seventh time that he did so while also taking three wickets.

Horror Batting Show From India

When it was South Africa’s turn to bat, it did not seem as if there were any ghosts in the pitch. The Narendra Modi Stadium, after all, is known for producing runs, and has already seen a 200+ score in this competition. Yet, when India could only muster xx runs, it can only be attributed to an appalling concoction of lack of application and planning.

It was always likely that South Africa will have an off-spinner in Aiden Markram to do so, for Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha and the Netherlands’ Aryan Dutt have already shown that it can be an effective tool. And it was, yet again, today. Except, the batter who was dismissed on duck was not Abhishek Sharma, but his opening partner, Ishan Kishan.

One can cut Kishan some slack, for what he has produced since his return to the national team, but Tilak Varma might not be able to claim such a cushion. Though captain Yadav told yesterday that the team management retains complete faith in Varma’s batting abilities, he could not live up to expectations, losing his wicket to Marco Jansen after scoring only a single run.

Sharma did manage to avoid a fourth consecutive duck, but he did not do much for his team’s cause either. After a lot of near misses, he was eventually outfoxed by a knuckle ball by Marco Jansen, losing his wicket after scoring 15 runs.

Dube Saves India From Embarassment

Next in the queue to lose his wicket was Washington Sundar. After failing to justify his selection with his bowling, the all-rounder almost confirmed a non-selection for the next match against Zimbabwe, by scoring a run-a-ball 11.

Much of the discourse around the Indian team has been aimed at Suryakumar Yadav’s strike rate, and the captain did nothing to put an end to it either. In 22 deliveries, he scored 18 runs, before his misery was finally curbed by Corbin Bosch.

With India’s score reading 57/5 after 10 overs, the writing was on the wall for everyone to see. At that stage, the wise decision perhaps would have been to arrest the bleed, considering how crucial net run rate can be at the latter stages of the match, and Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya did just that.

The pair had a 35-run sixth-wicket stand in 30 deliveries. Though, the moment Pandya tried to find a maximum, he found Tristan Stubbs at long-off off Keshav Maharaj’s bowling. In that same over, the left-arm spinner took two more wickets — that of Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh.

It is because of Shivam Dube’s late blitzkrieg, wherein he scored a 37-ball 42, be it courtesy of two dropped catches, that India managed to cross the 100-run mark and save themselves from an even bigger embarrassment. But ultimately, they were bowled out for 111, securing a 76-run win for South Africa.