South Africa ended India’s 12-match T20 World Cup winning run with a dominant 76-run victory in Ahmedabad, derailing the host’s title defence.

SOUTH AFRICA ended India’s 12-match winning streak at the T20 World Cup with a crushing 76-run victory in the opening Super Eights match.

The Proteas posted 187 for seven after being asked to bat first, before bowling the defending champions out for 111 in 18.5 overs.

Left-arm quick Marco Jansen finished with 4-22, while spinner Keshav Maharaj took 3-24 to dismantle India’s chase.

“Great performance,” said South Africa captain Aiden Markram. “Very different type of wicket to what we’ve had here, so great to see the boys assess that pretty early and adapt their skills to execute their plans.”

India’s chase began disastrously, losing five wickets for just 51 runs inside nine overs.

Maharaj then took three wickets in one over to dismiss Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh, effectively ending the contest.

Shivam Dube’s late 42 was in vain as India slumped to a heavy defeat that severely damages their net run rate.

The hosts will likely need to win their two remaining Super Eight games against Zimbabwe and the West Indies to reach the semi-finals.

“We bowled really well, but we could have batted a little better,” said India captain Suryakumar Yadav. “We lost too many wickets in the power play.”

Earlier, David Miller’s counter-attacking 63 and a 97-run partnership with Dewald Brevis (45) rescued South Africa from 20 for three.

Tristan Stubbs provided a brutal late cameo, smashing an unbeaten 44 off 24 balls, including hitting the final two deliveries of the innings for six.

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers with 3-15.

The match was a rematch of the 2024 T20 World Cup final, which India won in Barbados.

 The Sun Malaysia