India vs South Africa (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

NEW DELHI: South Africa hammered India by 76 runs in their opening Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup, handing the hosts a reality check and exposing serious flaws in their batting at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Chasing 188, India collapsed to 111 in 18.5 overs on a tricky surface, with the Proteas bowlers dominating throughout. Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Corbin Bosch led a collective bowling effort, while Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliant spell earlier in the game went in vain. For South Africa, David Miller, Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs played crucial roles in lifting the total to 187/7 after an early wobble.

After the match, South Africa captain Aiden Markram praised his team for reading the conditions well and executing their plans. “Great performance. 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,” he said at the post-match presentation. Markram highlighted the importance of the Miller-Brevis partnership, adding, “I think first and foremost was the partnership. (Miller and Brevis) The guys were great, put that together for us, steadied the ship and kept us in the game.”He explained how the team adjusted its approach in the latter half of the innings, noting, “so it was about finding space where we could run hard, drop the ego and take as much as we could at the back end.” Markram also praised his bowling group, calling their performance a big boost after a slow start to the tournament. “We’re going to make mistakes, we don’t mind that as a group, so we’ll brush those aside. We feel like Lungi is a threat whenever he bowls and that he can take wickets for us in that middle phase. It depends on conditions,” he added.Looking ahead, he warned against complacency, describing West Indies as “a dangerous T20 side” and stressing the need to stay sharp for the upcoming clash.India, meanwhile, endured a disastrous batting display. Early wickets put them on the back foot, and none of the top-order batters managed to build a meaningful innings on a surface where the ball gripped, and timing was difficult. Even Suryakumar Yadav struggled to find fluency, while the middle order could not recover from the early collapse. Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube tried to rebuild, but South Africa’s disciplined bowling plans shut down any late fightback.