SKY’s valiant knock goes in vain as South Africa prevail at Perth

Despite all the thrills and frills, despite all the nail-biting moments and despite all those countless windings along the road, it was South Africa who eventually prevailed in the end, thanks to a commanding display of calm, experience and eventually a brilliant finish from two of the most experienced campaigners in the South African squad, David Miller and Aiden Markram.

Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first on a difficult surface with the ball doing its fair bit right since the onset of the contest. KL Rahul had another false start to the innings with Lungi Ngidi beating him for pace while the Indian captain and Virat Kohli fell in quick succession to the same man.

An incoming Deepak Hooda instead of Axar Patel couldn’t get the scoreboard ticking either as Anrich Nortje found his edge for a duck. To make matters worse, India lost Hardik Pandya for a paltry couple, which left them reeling at 49 for 5.

With half the side back in the dugout, and the innings stuttering to the halfway mark, there was a point in time when crossing three figures felt like a luxury for the Men in Blue. However, India’s in-form batter, Suryakumar Yadav came to the deliverance of the Men in Blue as he steered a well-fought knock amidst the tumultuous oceans of the menacing South African bowlers.

Dinesh Karthik, despite being short of steam at the other end, defended the fort with tooth and claw, helping India cross a respectable figure. Surya dragged the Indian batting unit to the 19th over where he got out for a valiant 68 from just 40 balls.

With 134 to chase, India got off to a fiery start, riding high on Arshdeep Singh who produced another ripper of a spell, claiming a dangerous Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw in a span of three balls. Despite a budding partnership between Bavuma and Markram, Mohammed Shami cleaned up the South African captain with a sudden drop in pace and a brilliant catch from a diving Dinesh Karthik.

Despite all the early huffing and puffing from Team India, the Proteas hit back in time to get a grip of the leaping required rate and turned the tables to cause a frown or two in the Indian camp. By the time they could throw a stopper in their descent, it was already too late.

Hardik Pandya provided a crucial breakthrough claiming Markram while Ashwin bagged Tristan Stubbs to stretch the contest till the final over. However, with just 6 runs to defend, despite dragging the equation till the 4th ball of the over, it was a composed David Miller who saw South Africa across the finish line.

With this defeat, the Men in Blue dropped down to the second position in the points table with 2 wins from 3 games and a net run-rate of +0.844 while their closest pursuers Bangladesh shared identical numbers in terms of points but had to be assuaged with the third position because of a contrasting NRR that reads -1.533. India will be up against Bangladesh in their next encounter at the Adelaide Oval which is slated to be played on Wednesday.