The crowd at St George’s Park was treated to an absolute thriller, as South Africa held their nerve to clinch a low-scoring affair by three wickets, thanks to a well-calculated knock from Tristan Stubbs (47).
It didn’t seem likely that the Proteas would pull it off when they were struggling at 86/7, but Stubbs maintained his composure, taking the game to the end and guiding his team across the line. Varun Chakaravarthy’s sensational spell, in which he took five wickets, kept India in contention, but the Indian pacers leaked runs in the final overs, failing to complement the spinner’s efforts.
India’s batting performance was lacklustre, which dampened their chances of winning. At the start of the match, there was moisture in the air and on the pitch, and the South African pacers made full use of the favourable conditions, rocking India’s top order in the Powerplay with three quick wickets. Sanju Samson was the first to depart, dismissed for a duck by Marco Jansen. Gerald Coetzee removed Tilak Varma with a sharp bouncer and Suryakumar Yadav was pinned in front of the stumps by Andile Simelane.
Axar Patel, promoted to No. 5, looked promising from the moment he came out. He began rebuilding India’s innings with Tilak but lost his partner in the eighth over. Hardik Pandya joined Axar, and both started playing the conditions, in contrast to the top order, who were overly aggressive despite the seam and bounce on offer. Axar was eventually run-out at the non-striker’s end after a promising 27, and Rinku Singh fell for a low score as South Africa’s spinners kept things tight.
In the end, all hopes rested on Pandya. He tried to farm the strike in the final overs but struggled to connect, as the Proteas pacers executed their plans brilliantly.