South Africa top Group 2
They've beaten India by five wickets, with two balls to spare. And that is a statement win too. India had theirs over Pakistan last week but now South Africa have showed they know how to deal with pressure (did someone say the ch.... word) after they recovered from 24 for 3, limped to the halfway mark on 40 and then Aiden Markram and David Miller changed gears, slammed 76 runs in 10 overs, each scored a half-century and in the end, secured a comfortable win.
But let's not forget that South Africa set the tone in the field. Their fast men were exceptional and used the short ball to excellent effect. India's attack were also outstanding for the most part. They made use of fuller lengths and found swing but in the end, both captain had to gamble on how they used their spinner. Temba Bavuma can't catch a break with the bat and failed again but made the right decision to only use Keshav Maharaj for three overs, while giving Aiden Markram one. Between them, they conceded 33 runs in four overs. Rohit Sharma bowled R Ashwin out and used him to bowl the 17th over. At that stage, South Africa needed 25 runs from 18 balls. They took 13 off Ashwin and even though he dismissed Tristan Stubbs, it was too little, too late.
This result has big implications for the rest of the group, particularly Pakistan, whose semi-final hopes are hanging by a thread. South Africa’s win means that not only do Pakistan have to beat South Africa on Thursday but also hope either India lose to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe or South Africa are defeated by the Netherlands. I'll be back with you for the Pakistan-South Africa match. Have a good week.
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Still tense
5 runs needed off four balls
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Miller v Ashwin
Have a look at how David Miller has improved against R Ashwin this year.
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Buckle up!
12 runs needed off 12 balls
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Rohit's spin gamble
Bavuma had to it when he gave the ball to Aiden Markram as SKY was tucking into Keshav Maharaj. Now, Rohit has done it, with Ashwin to bowl the 18th. And immediately, it looks like a bad idea. Miller has hit successive sixes to bring the required run-rate down to less than a run-a-ball. But, but, but, but, but...
Ashwin has dismissed Tristan Stubbs lbw and it may just open South Africa up.
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Change the conditions folks
Agree? I've really enjoyed the conditions in this match and hope you have too.
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Markram-Miller partnership sets SA up
Aiden Markram took on one short ball too many and mishit a pull off Pandya to SKY at deep mid-wicket but he will probably think he has done his job. His fourth-wicket stand with David Miller has broken the back of the chase. It's South Africa's match to lose now.
76 in 10 overs
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Karthik off injured
Dinesh Karthik has left the field with what looks like lower back trouble. Rishabh Pant is keeping in his absence.
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South Africa surge back
45 runs scored off the last four overs
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Virat Kohli is human!
Did you know that? Do you need proof? We've got it!
Kohli has DROPPED - yes, DROPPED - a catch.
Aiden Markram charged R Ashwin and heaved him to deep mid-wicket, where Kohli was waiting. He had the ball, juggled it and then watched as it popped out of his hands. Like you, Ashwin could not believe it. He gestured wildly, angrily even. Markram was on 35 at the time.
Sidenote - Rohit Sharma is also human. He had three stumps to aim at when Markram set off a single that should never have been run and missed.
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Aiden gets aggressive
South Africa have decided it's go-time. Aiden Markram has picked on Hardik Pandya and has started to swing against the short balls. South Africa enjoyed their best over off Pandya in a clear switching off the gears.
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Same pitch, different approaches
Let's take a look at how these two very different pace attacks have made use of conditions. South Africa, with their raw pace, opted for mostly short or short of good length deliveries and sent down 50 out of the 96 balls their quicks bowled. That's 52%. India, whose don't have quite as much pace, are bowler fuller to find swing. So far, they've bowled 31 out of 54 balls on a good length, full or a yorker, which is 57% of their total deliveries.
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Someone's still optimistic
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Bavuma blues
It's not getting any better for Temba Bavuma, whose slump continues. He tried to be innovative in this innigs and shuffled across his stumps several times to try to scoop the bowlers but has never looked comfortable. Bhuvneshwar Kumar squared him up and beat him before Bavuma top-edged him for six and it looked like maybe, maybe, his intent was paying off. It didn't and the next time Bavuma made room for the ramp, he inside-edged to the keeper.
17 Bavuma's total runs in his last six T20I innings
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What a start for India
If South Africa thought keeping India to 14 runs in the first three overs was a good start, well, what did they know? India, using swing rather bounce, have South Africa 9 for 2 at the same stage.
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Rohit's review gives Singh a second
How many bowlers don't want their captain to review when they've appealed? One, that we know of. When Arshdeep Singh hit Rilee Rossouw on the back leg as Rossouw missed a flick, he indicated he thought the ball was going down leg but Rohit overruled him and sent it upstairs. Rohit was proved right and ball-tracking showed the ball was going on to hit the top of middle and leg-stump. This is the third time in five innings that Arshdeep has dismissed Rossouw, all three times for ducks.
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Pressure on Bavuma
He only has seven runs from his last five T20Is. It's all eyes on Temba Bavuma, the batter now. If you have some time, read Monga's piece about the complications of a poorly-performing captain.
You wonder if with this total - not so big that it needs the batters to go hard from the get-go - might be helpful for Bavuma and allow him to ease himself back in a touch. He doesn't have the luxury of his first foil though - Quinton de Kock was dismissed in the second over, off Arshdeep Singh's first ball.
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India set South Africa 134
Phew... that was quick. South Africa's attack brought the heat on a chilly evening in Perth and challenged India with pace and short balls. Lungi Ngidi has confirmed that South Africa looked to cramp India for room with their lengths and it worked a charm. India were 49 for 5 in the ninth over and relied on Suryakumar Yadav to carry them. His 68 was the 11th half-century of his T20I career. He shared in one significant partnership - 52 for the sixth wicket with Dinesh Karthik, who contributed only six in that stand.
South Africa will fancy their chances of chasing this. While they do that, we'll have former South African captain Faf du Plessis answering your questions during the chase. Send 'em in:
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The SKY has fallen
South Africa won't have to worry about the damage SKY could do in the last over, because he was dismissed on the penultimate ball of the 19th. We haven't seen many variations in pace from the South African quicks but Wayne Parnell went to the cutter, SKY pulled but mishit and Keshav Maharaj took the catch. At the time of his dismissal, SKY had scored 53% of India's total runs. He also became the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket in 2022, going past Mohammad Rizwan. And there's at least one South African bowler who appreciates his efforts:
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Limiting the damage
South Africa's spinners haven't done too badly against a line-up that looked to target them. Keshav Maharaj bowled three overs and Aiden Markram one, and they conceded at 8.25 runs per over between them.
33 number of runs scored against spin
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SKY-ing it
SKY is carrying India here. He has brought up his 11th T20I half-century, off 30 balls. And he also has half of India's runs so far. He's the only batter to have had some measure of South Africa's attack and apart from his opening boundary - an edge that flew over first slip off Nortje - he has timed and placed his shots well. He targeted Maharaj, forcing Bavuma to turn to Markram, and then dented Ngidi's figures when he took 11 runs off his final over.
If you want to know more about his approach, we ran this interview with him earlier this week.
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Bavuma's spin gamble
Suryakumar Yadav greeted Keshav Maharaj with a cut that he carved between backward point and short third and then charged him to him for six in his second over. Maharaj's first two overs cost 18 runs and with SKY looking confident against him, Temba Bavuma made use of his sixth bowling option, Aiden Markram for an over. His offspin tied India down, with only singles scored off him.
5 The number of runs from Aiden Markram's first over.
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Nortje's secret weapon
If you're wondering if Anrich Nortje had something special for breakfast, don't. His pace is not down to something he ate, but someone he met in the lead-up to this game:
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Halfway there
In every way.
India have batted ten overs and lost half their line-up.
If it feels a bit frenetic, that's because it is. South Africas quicks are delivering a masterclass in pace on a helpful pitch. India's approach is to counter-attack and they're getting a few away but nowhere near as many as they would like to. There's still the spin to come, and that will be part of the story of the second half.
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Unstoppable Ngidi
Lungi Ngidi's first 2.3 overs
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South Africa's bowlers go bang-bang
Oooohhhh.... this is what we wanted to see. Pace is pace, boet and South Africa are bossing it. Anrich Nortje has sent down fireballs at over 150kph, and has removed Deepak Hooda for a duck. India's extra batter came in at No.5, flashed at a wide one and nicked off. Two wickets in five balls now.
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And now Ngidi gets Kohli
Virat Kohli offered a riposte and hit the back-to-back boundaries off the first two balls of Ngidi's second over but then tried to take on the bouncer and pulled towards fine leg. Kagiso Rabada ran around to take the catch and India were left stunned on 41 for 3.
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Where will Deepak Hooda bat?
Right, so that's the Powerplay done and India have lost both their openers. They'll be looking for acceleration in the middle-overs and depending on what happens, may need to play with how they use Deepak Hooda. Nagraj Gollapudi has this to say on it:
In the Asia Cup recently Hooda came in as a finisher, but is that really is his best position? And is finishing his real strength? Here’s a comparison of Hooda’s numbers when he bats in the top order versus lower order since 2019, in all T20s. In 39 innings, while batting in top four position, Hooda has accumulated 1326 runs at an average of 40.18 and a strike rate of nearly 148 including his solitary T20I century which came this summer in Ireland. When he has batted in the lower order (No.s 5 onwards), in 30 innings, Hooda has made 460 runs at an average of 19 and a strike rate of 122.
One possible factor in Hooda’s favour is his ability against the short ball, which will be a bowler’s weapon on the fast, bouncy Perth pitch. As per ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, since 2019, against short and short-of-length deliveries, Hooda has an average of 36.86 at a strike rate of 147.43.
India might want use Hooda as a floater depending on the situation of play while allowing the regular finishing pair of Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik the space and time to do their job. Nonetheless it is an interesting selection.
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Ngidi's double strike removes India's openers
Lungi Ngidi was introduced in the fifth over and made an immediate impact. Indian captain Rohit Sharma did not get hold Ngidi's first delivery properly and sent it aerially over the cover region and was them cramped by a hard length ball that he tried to pull. Rohit mishit and the ball went straight up. Ngidi had the time to make his way across the pitch to his right and take the catch. And then it got better, when he finished the over by removing KL Rahul, who was foxed by the extra bounce. Rahul was looking to guide the ball to third but the ball took the edge. Aiden Markram, at slip, was standing quite far back and was in the perfect place to accept the catch.
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Cold, but hot.
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A sixy start
An unusual start to this match, with both openers getting off the mark with sixes. This is what the first 14 balls looked like:
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First runs
It took 10 deliveries but those first runs came when Rohit Sharma hooked KG Rabada over fine leg. That was the only scoring shot in the first two overs. And our stats guru Sampath Bandarupalli reports that this is the longest India have taken to score their first run. The previous most was nine balls, also against South Africa in Centurion 2018 and against West Indies in St Kitts earlier this year.
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Wayne Parnell starts swinging
That's the start South Africa would have wanted. Wayne Parnell is getting that ball to swing into the right-hander and there's a nice amount of bounce on offer. He beat the outside edge throughout that over and India are scoreless so far.
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Some unlikely fans
The subplot to all of this is that just a week after India and Pakistan went head-to-head in one of the best T20I matches we've seen, Pakistan find themselves rooting for India in this match. That's because if India beat South Africa, Pakistan's chances of making the semi-final increase, and Thursday's match against South Africa will just about be a quarterfinal.
So, we're going to have Pakistan flags flying for India and that could well be one of our moments of the tournament. We’re picking the best moments from the games with our video experts in a daily show. And if you want to actually own a piece of those moments, they are available as digital memorabilia on FanCraze, ESPNcricinfo’s digital collectible partners. On FanCraze, you can pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game.
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India choose to bat
Things are not getting easier for Temba Bavuma. He hasn't called correctly so India win the toss. Rohit Sharma has opted to bat for "no particular reason," other than that "it's a good surface." They've made one change from the XI that played the previous two matches. Axar Patel is out and Deepak Hooda in.
Bavuma also wanted to bat first and expects the ball to swing under lights. As expected, South Africa have stuck to one spinner for this surface. Tabraiz Shamsi sits out and Lungi Ngidi is back, but there's no room for Marco Jansen.
India: 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Arshdeep Singh
South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma, 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Kagiso Rabada
Remember, If you're in the USA, you can watch the game LIVE on ESPN+.
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That Perth pitch
Even before we get to the toss, we have to talk about this pitch. It's said to the fastest in Australia, and perhaps even in the world, and it's got good bounce to boot. South Africa's much-vaunted attack were licking their lips on the eve of the match, but only in private. Anrich Nortje warned of the dangers of getting carried away. India have got an excellent pack of their own so we should be in for a real treat.
Let's take a look at the lengths Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled in the Pakistan-Netherlands match. Here's his pitch map.
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Pakistan get their first points
Pakistan have wrapped up a comfortable win - by six wickets - over Netherlands to get themselves off the mark at this tournament. It's their first victory after they lost to India and then Zimbabwe and could set up the tastiest of clashes against South Africa next Thursday. For more on Pakistan's performance, here's our live show:
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It's Super Sunday!
... and this is the match we've been waiting for.
Bangladesh and Zimbabwe gave us a thriller in the early game, Pakistan are on their way to sweeping Netherlands aside in the middle match and then, the top of the table clash between India and South Africa will determine who takes a bigger step towards the semi-final.
This is the ninth T20I meeting between these two teams this year and there's not much to choose between them. India have won four matches, South Africa have triumphed in three, they've each had a series win over the other and there's been one no-result. This, though, is the most consequential of the nine clashes.
India lead the Group 2 points' table with four points. Bangladesh also have four, but have played one match more. South Africa are in third with three points.
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