South Africa beat India by 5 wickets, Pakistan on the verge of knockout from T20 World Cup

David Miller and pace bowlers led South Africa’s win against India in the Group 2 match of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday. With Rohit Sharma and co’s loss, Pakistan are now almost knocked out of the tournament. 

Miller, who has been in brilliant form this year, remained unbeaten at 59 off 46 balls. He crouched and opened his bat-face to carve Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s full outside-off delivery over point for a boundary to seal the game. 

Also read: Virat Kohli drops Aiden Markram catch, Rohit Sharma misses David Miller run out: Watch

This is Men in Blue’s first loss in the tournament after winning the first match against Pakistan, followed by another against the Netherlands. They will be facing Bangladesh next, followed by the final Super 12 match against Zimbabwe. 

Part of the reason why India lost the match was their poor fielding performance. The Men in Blue missed several run-out chances and dropped key catches. Experts are arguing that the catch of Aiden Markram that Virat Kohli missed ultimately lost them the match. It came at a crucial moment when Aiden Makaram and David Miller were settling in, but Kohli missed the opportunity to break their match-winning partnership early on.

Wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik also had a bad day as many bouncers went past him to reach the boundary. Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, missed a great chance to run out David Miller. 

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The Proteas, on the other hand, were excellent on the field. One player who stood out in this department was Kagiso Rabada, Even though the pacer went wicketless in the match, his excellent catch to dismiss Virat Kohli off a Lungi Ngidi delivery paved the way for an easy chase for the bowlers. 

India’s Arshdeep Singh started well as South Africa’s chances were bleak after losing two wickets for three in Singh’s second over. 

However, the fielding lapses allowed Miller and Markram to settle in and the match slowly slipped away from India.