South Africa moved to the top of Group Two in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup with a five-wicket victory over India.
David Miller struck a match-winning 59 from 46 deliveries to see his side over the line as they reached the required 134 to win with just two balls to spare.
South Africa had to recover from the loss of two quick wickets and 40 for three, with Aiden Markram’s arrival at the crease helping push up the run rate after the drinks break.
Markram was crucially dropped by Virat Kohli in the 12th over when he was on 35 and went on to make 52 from 41 before being caught by Suryakumar Yadav.
Miller continued the charge for South Africa, scoring a boundary from the third ball of the final over to reduce the equation before following it up with a second four to win the game and secure a five-wicket win for his side.
Earlier, India – having elected to bat first – were 23 without loss before Lungi Ngidi caught and bowled India captain Rohit Sharma, a wicket which sparked a collapse.
India slid to 49 for five, with Virat Kohli, who had yet to be dismissed in the tournament, ousted for just 12 runs.
Suryakumar Yadav led India’s recovery, scoring 68 off 40 before top-edging a Wayne Parnell delivery to Keshav Maharaj.
South Africa delivered an impressive bowling performance to limit India to a well-below par total of 133, with Ngidi the pick of the bowlers with four for 29, while Parnell took three wickets.
Also on Sunday...
Mosaddek Hossain held his nerve despite having to bowl the final ball twice as Bangladesh edged to a three-run win over Zimbabwe at the T20 World Cup.
Zimbabwe needed five from the last delivery to overhaul Bangladesh’s 150 for seven but Blessing Muzarabani missed with a huge heave off Mosaddek and was stumped by Tigers wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan.
As Bangladesh celebrated, replays showed Hasan had collected the ball in front of the stumps which meant a no-ball was declared and Muzarabani would get another chance of a free hit.
With just four runs required, Zimbabwe’s number 10 batter once more was unable to get bat to ball off Mosaddek and Bangladesh were able to breathe a sigh of relief to claim their second Super 12s win.
Pakistan kept alive their slim hopes of reaching the T20 World Cup semi-finals thanks to a commanding six-wicket victory over the Netherlands in a must-win clash in Perth.
Dramatic final-ball defeats to India and Zimbabwe in their opening Group Two matches had taken Pakistan’s fate out of their own hands and pushed them to the brink of an early exit.
But the 2009 champions kept themselves in contention for at least the time being by finally recording their first win of the tournament after breezing past the lowest-ranked nation involved in the Super 12.
