Super Sixes SRL | IND vs SA Evaluation Chart - Batsmen all the way as India scamper home by a canter

BySritama Panda, SportsCafe Editor

05/31/2020

India, with the help of a thunderous unbeaten knock by Rohit Sharma and a great show of lower-order batting by Shreyas Iyer, were able to hand an eight-wicket loss to South Africa. South African bowlers struggled to contain the Indian opening charge despite having a target of 172 to defend.

Match Review

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, South Africa struggled a tad bit having lost both their openers early in the first innings powered by the bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah. Following that, Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen shouldered the innings and took South Africa to a decent position in the middle-overs. Klaasen survived (65 off 41) for a long time until the 17th over and formed reasonable partnerships with the lower middle-order. Indian spinners, especially Yuzvendra Chahal, had a bad day and the batsmen took full advantage of it. At the end of T20 overs, with some last-minute help from David Miller, the Proteas posted a total of 171/6 on the board.

In reciprocation to the target of 172, India answered with utmost confidence and swiftness right from the start. The openers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, charged right from the word go and made full use of the Powerplay. They were always in the game and the competition turned out to be one-sided pretty soon and remained so till the end as the openers formed a 102-run partnership. Following that, Sharma(67* off 48) was right on point with the chase and got considerable help from Shreyas Iyer(50* off 24) as their unbeaten partnership saw India to a comfortable victory.

You can check out the scorecard and Match Tracker here.

Turning Point

To me, the turning point of the game was Heinrich Klaasen’s run out in the 17th over of South Africa’s innings. Until that point, the Proteas had recovered from the early loss of their openers. Klaasen(65 off 41) departed leaving South Africa on 145/4 (16.2). However, with Miller in the middle, the Proteas only managed to add another 26 runs in the final 22 deliveries.

Highs and Lows

I believe the high of the game was the power-packed third-wicket partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer. After KL Rahul (53 off 35) and Virat Kohli(golden duck) were sent off on successive deliveries by Andile Phehlukwayo, in the 12th over, Sharma and Iyer stormed off the bowlers and added 73 runs off the next 37 deliveries taking India to an easy win.

According to me, the low of this game was South Africa’s dismal bowling performance which led to the game being subpar as per the competition is concerned. Despite having a big total to defend, the pacers and spinners collectively conceded heavy runs starting from the Powerplay, till the end.

Rating Charts

Powerplay exploitation: - South Africa (6/10) and India (9/10)

By the end of the Powerplay, South Africa had already lost both their openers but had started to recover and reached a decent score of 40/2 as Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma were already sent packing. A fairly good fifth over, bowled by Shardul Thakur, in which 7 runs were squeezed out, South Africa lost Bavuma (14-ball 26) and it was followed by a 3-run 6th over bowled by Bumrah.

On the other hand, at the end of the Powerplay, India looked right on track for the chase with 52/0 on the board. Both openers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul kept charging occasionally at Rabada and Steyn. Then came the big over, the final over of the Powerplay, when the two openers smashed sixes and added 19 runs off Steyn’s over.

Middle overs:- South Africa (9/10) and India (8/10)

South Africa’s middle-overs batting was powered by the third-wicket partnership between Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen. The two top-order batsmen charged at Indian spinners, especially Yuzvendra Chahal, managing nine sixes between the two of them. Klaasen, in fact, fired a six off Pandya in the 13th over to reach his fifty. By the time Rassie was dismissed in the 15th over, South Africa were looking good and strong and that led to a promising total of 132/2 at the end of 15 overs.

On the other hand, India went on full fire in the chase carved out by the openers, who built a strong foundation right from the start. After Rahul and Kohli were shown off in successive deliveries in the 12th over, Sharma displayed his heroics punishing all South Africa bowlers that came on his way and Iyer joined in. In fact, at the end of 15 overs, India were on 134/2, leaving them just 38 runs away from the target.

Death Bowling: - India (9/10) and South Africa (1/10)

At the end of the 15th over, South Africa were looking fine with a total of 132/3 with Klaasen still batting on 57 off 35. However, the bowlers recovered well after the Proteas-dominated show in the middle-overs. Bumrah and Saini checked the run flow and also dismissed Pretorius and Phehlukwayo as South Africa were able to add just 39 runs in the final five overs, while India bagged three wickets in that span.

Meanwhile, South Africa didn’t have much to do in the death bowling department and it was fairly clear from India’s position in the middle overs that 38 runs easily gettable with eight wickets in hand. In the next three overs, India sealed the deal with both Sharma and Iyer remaining unbeaten.

Match Frenzy O Meter - Good

After a good start by both teams, it turned out to be a fairly one-sided competition between India and South Africa, as the former won the game comfortably by eight wickets and two overs remaining. The South African bowlers were completely outplayed and it was India all the way throughout the rest of the game. However, both teams displayed a great show of batting and made it an interesting T20 game.